A Cleveland living trust that keeps your family out of probate court.
Thoughtful living trust planning for Northeast Ohio professionals, business owners, and their families. Three clear plans, drafted to fit your life. It begins with a complimentary Strategy Session.
A complimentary 15-minute call with our Intake Services team to see whether a living trust may be a good fit for your situation.
What a family faces without the right plan.
Whether a family has a will or no plan at all, the same difficulties tend to follow.
Probate court.
When assets pass through a will, they pass through Ohio probate, a public court process that can take months, carry cost, and delay what reaches your family.
A loss of privacy.
A will becomes part of the public record once it is filed. Anyone can see what you owned and who received it.
No one ready to step in.
If illness or age makes it hard to manage your affairs, your family may need a court to appoint someone to act for you.
The cost of long-term care.
A single extended nursing-home stay can draw down savings built over a lifetime, and reach the family home as well.
How a living trust answers each of these.
A living trust holds what you own and directs where it goes, during your life and after. It is the instrument that addresses the difficulties above.
Avoid probate.
Assets held in a funded trust pass directly to the people you choose, outside of probate court.
Keep it private.
A trust settles privately. Your estate and your wishes remain a family matter.
Plan for incapacity.
Your trust and powers of attorney let someone you trust step in without a court, exactly when needed.
Protect what you have built.
The right structure can shield your home and savings from the cost of long-term care and preserve more for the next generation.
Revocable and irrevocable: the difference.
A revocable living trust stays fully in your control. You can change it, add to it, or undo it at any time. It is built to avoid probate and keep your plan private while you remain in charge.
Foundation of Resolute and Resilient
An irrevocable trust trades some control for stronger protection. Because the assets are set apart, they can be shielded from the cost of long-term care, from creditors, and from certain taxes.
Foundation of the Reserve plan
Which one fits depends on your goals, and your Strategy Session is the place to start.
Three living trust plans. One built for you.
They offer different levels of depth, customization, and protection.
The Resolute Plan
A streamlined living trust to keep things straightforward.
For families and individuals with a clear estate who want to avoid probate and pass assets directly to the people they choose.
A focused, efficient plan with guided funding. Everything a straightforward estate needs to stay out of probate.
The Resilient Plan
A fully customized living trust with white-glove funding.
For families who want custom and contingency drafting, protective provisions for children and beneficiaries, and their trust funded for them.
Everything in Resolute, plus custom and contingency drafting, protective provisions for beneficiaries, and done-for-you trust funding, including recording the deed to your home, with full design counsel.
We design the plan around your family and, upon your request, fund the trust for you, including the deed to your home. Comprehensive guidance from design through signing and funding.
The Reserve Plan
An irrevocable trust for long-term-care and asset protection.
For those planning ahead for the cost of long-term care, or who want to protect the home and savings for the next generation.
An irrevocable trust structure (such as a Medicaid asset protection trust), the full suite of supporting documents, and advanced planning counsel.
Designed to help protect your home and savings from the cost of nursing care, and to preserve what you pass on. The most protective of the three plans, and the most involved to design.
We will help you see whether a living trust may be a good fit for your situation in your Strategy Session.
Book Your Strategy SessionA clear path from first call to signed plan.
Everything starts with the Strategy Session, a complimentary 15-minute call to determine whether a trust-based approach to planning may be a good fit for your situation, and whether we may be the right firm to help with your needs. After that, we move to a four-meeting process. For the Resolute and Resilient plans, the path is the same. The Reserve plan goes deeper.
Vision Meeting.
A paid 60-minute call with our Principal Attorney to review your intake information and help you choose the right plan for your situation.
Design Meeting.
Meet by video with our Principal Attorney to design your plan around your home, your family, and your wishes.
Review Meeting.
We send a private video walkthrough of your plan to review on your own time. Your questions are answered by email before you sign.
Signing Ceremony.
When your plan is ready, a mobile notary comes to your home. You sign, and your plan is in place.
The Reserve plan: a deeper design process.
Because an irrevocable trust carries more moving parts, the Reserve plan includes additional design meetings and closer collaboration between you and our Principal Attorney. We set the timeline together as your plan takes shape, sized to the work it requires.
Your Resolute or Resilient Plan can be signed within 45 days.
We complete the drafting of your Resolute or Resilient Plan and schedule your Signing Ceremony within 45 days of your Design Meeting. If a delay is on us, we make it right. The timeline pauses only while we are waiting on you.
The Reserve plan is not bound to the 45-day promise. Its timeline reflects the added complexity of irrevocable planning and the deeper involvement it asks of both you and our Principal Attorney. We agree on a realistic timeline together at the outset.
Why families choose Rhodium Law.
Rhodium Law was founded by Andrew C. Goodwin, a Harvard Law graduate, to bring thoughtful counsel for the seasons of life to Ohio professionals, business owners, and their families. The firm pairs sophisticated planning with the warmth of working with people who know your name.
Handled from home.
Meet by video on your schedule. Your plan comes to you.
A complimentary first step.
Begin with a Strategy Session at no cost to see whether a living trust may be a good fit.
We come to you.
A mobile notary brings the signing to your home when your plan is ready.
The things families ask us first.
What is a living trust?
A legal arrangement that holds your assets during your life and passes them to the people you choose, without probate court. With a revocable trust, you stay in full control while you are alive.
What is the difference between a revocable and an irrevocable trust?
A revocable trust stays in your control and can be changed at any time; it is built to avoid probate and keep your plan private. An irrevocable trust sets assets apart for stronger protection from the cost of long-term care, from creditors, and from certain taxes, in exchange for giving up some control.
Do I still need a will?
Yes, and your plan includes one. It is called a pour-over will, and it directs anything not yet placed in your trust into it.
How do the three plans differ?
Resolute is a streamlined revocable trust for straightforward estates. Resilient adds custom drafting, protective provisions, and done-for-you funding. Reserve is an irrevocable trust for long-term-care and asset protection. We help you find the right fit as we learn about your situation.
Can a trust help with nursing-home and Medicaid costs?
Yes. An irrevocable trust, planned in advance, can protect your home and savings from the cost of long-term care. This is the focus of the Reserve plan.
Who do I meet with?
Your Strategy Session is with our Intake Services team, not an attorney, to understand your situation and whether a living trust may be a good fit. If it is, you move forward to a Vision Meeting with our Principal Attorney.
Is everything done remotely?
Almost. Your meetings are by video and you review your plan with a private video walkthrough. The signing is in person, when a mobile notary comes to your home.
How does pricing work?
Each plan is a single flat fee, quoted up front once we know which plan fits your situation.
Begin with a conversation.
Tell us about your family and your goals. We will help you understand your options and choose the plan that fits.
Book Your Strategy SessionA complimentary 15-minute call with our Intake Services team to see whether a living trust may be a good fit for your situation.