Revisions to Ohio Probate Law, Guardianship Law and Ohio Trust Code enacted by HB 7 of the 134 Ohio General Assembly take effect August 17, 2021. The highlights of these changes include:
Selection of Automobiles by Surviving Spouse
Clarification in R.C. 2106.13(A) that if the surviving spouse selected more than one automobile under R.C. 2106.18, the allowance for support shall be reduced by the value of the automobile having the lowest value.
Guardianship Law
Expands the powers of a guardian pursuant to R.C. 2111.50(A) to create, amend, or revoke revocable trusts of property of the estate of the ward that may extend beyond the minority, disability, or life of the ward, and change beneficiaries of insurance policies, retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, and annuities.
Appointment of nonprofit corporation as guardian of person of an incompetent
R.C. 2111.20(B) allows a nonprofit corporation domiciled in Ohio, organized under Ohio laws, and entitled to tax exempt status under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) subsection 501(a) to be appointed as a guardian of the person of an “incompetent” when certified by the probate court to receive such an appointment.
Anatomical Gift Act
Changes R.C. 2108.05(A) to eliminate making an anatomical gift in the donor’s will or R.C. 2133.16 living will and other changes with anatomical gifts. See Advance Directives Forms that can now be accessed on the OSBA website.
Ohio Trust Code
Revises R.C. 5804.11(B) to specify that the exception disallowing removal of the trustee of a noncharitable irrevocable trust applies only to the currently serving trustee. Repeals former R.C. 5805.06(B)(2) regarding power of withdrawal.
Ohio Legacy Trust Act (OLTA)
Adds in R.C. 5816.02 that a qualified trustee will include a family trust company and makes other changes for legacy trusts.
Cemetery Endowment Care Trusts
Revises R.C. 1721.21 to establish a different method to calculate how funds from the endowment care trust can be used to pay for the expenses of cemetery.
Conformity of a Legal Name/Change of Legal Name
The law for change of legal name under R.C. 2717 is recodified with new section numbers for the process.
For additional information see Final Analysis HB 7 Ohio Legislative Service Commission. You may also wish to attend the online, self-study CLE course offered by the Ohio State Bar Association available until December 31, 2021, Probate and Trust law Changes: What you Need to Know.
This topic, Legislative Updates on HB 7 and Other Statutory Law Changes, will also be discussed at The Marvin R. Pliskin Advanced Probate and Estate Planning Seminar presented by the OSBA by live interactive webinar on September 17, 2021.
As always, if you have questions about this or any other loss prevention topic. Please feel free to contact us at OBLIC.
Gretchen Mote, Esq. Monica Waller, Esq.
Director of Loss Prevention Senior Loss Prevention Counsel
