Davidson Law LLC

05/08/2026

12/10/2025

This a great service for seniors that want to show holiday cheer!

07/17/2025

Golf Outing Sponsor Spotlight - 💎 Diamond Sponsor, Jake Davidson '03, Davidson Law LLC thank you for your continued support!

05/17/2024

Proud to sponsor the Olmsted Falls Alumni Association golf outing.

Golf Outing Sponsor Spotlight - Diamond Sponsor, Jacob Davidson '03, Davidson Law LLC - thank you for your support! 💎 To become a sponsor click on or link or email our office at [email protected] https://ofhsalumni.com/sponsor/

01/09/2024

BNI True North Networkers

🌟 Attention, Stars of the Northeast Ohio Business Sky! 🌟

🎩 BNI True North Networkers are on a quest, a quest of epic, slightly whimsical proportions! We're expanding our universe and looking for some celestial bodies to join our constellation of professionals. And not just any stars – we're talking supernovas of specific trades! Here's the stellar lineup we're scouting for:

1. 🌬️ HVAC Wizards - Can you make air cooler than a polar bear's toenails, and warmer than a Nashville summer? We need you!
2. 💪 Personal Trainers - Transforming couch potatoes into thin, fresh-cut french fries; your fitness magic is awaited!
3. 🛡️ Life Insurance Gurus - You make planning for the unexpected less scary than a ghost in a nightgown.
4. 🍲 Catering Connoisseurs - Turning events into feasts more epic than a Viking banquet!
5. ⚡ Electricians - You bring the light, literally. Without you, we're just people in the dark bumping into furniture.
6. 🧱 Mason Masters - Building dreams one brick at a time; you're the real-life Tetris champions.
7. 💔 Divorce Attorneys - Helping people find their happily ever-after, after. You're like the fairy godparent of fresh starts.
8. 💳 Bankruptcy Attorneys - Turning financial frowns upside down; you're like financial wizards but with legal degrees.
9. 📸 Photographers - Capturing moments faster than a toddler with a sugar rush. Click, flash, wow!
10. 🎨 Interior Designers - You don't just arrange furniture, you choreograph elegance.
11. 🚀 Business Coaches - Turning underdogs into CEOs; you're like the personal trainers for profit!

So, if you're a master of one of these crafts and want to network with a group as fun as it is professional, BNI True North Networkers is your cosmic calling! Join us and let's make business networking not just beneficial, but out-of-this-world enjoyable! 🌌

🌟🚀🎩

BNI True North Networkers

11/17/2023

Article for elderly business owners-

As the population ages, the needs and challenges of elderly business owners regarding long-term care and estate and business succession planning have become increasingly critical. These individuals must navigate a complex landscape to ensure their business is sustainable while safeguarding their personal and financial well-being. However, many elderly business owners find themselves grappling with a fragmented advisory team that lacks a holistic approach, with professionals who are focused only on specific aspects of planning. In this article, we will explore the unique needs of and challenges facing elderly business owners in long-term care planning, estate planning, and business succession planning. We will consider Medicaid planning, the use of irrevocable trusts to hold business ownership interests, revocable trusts to avoid probate, incapacity planning, and the psychological impact of transferring businesses.

Long-Term Care Planning Needs

Elderly business owners need to plan for long-term care, which can have a significant impact on their business and personal finances. Long-term care encompasses a range of services, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in-home care. Failing to plan effectively for long-term care could deplete personal assets and impact business interests.

Medicaid planning plays a vital role in balancing the costs of long-term care. Medicaid is a federal and state program that provides healthcare coverage for individuals with limited income and assets. Eligibility for Medicaid is contingent upon meeting certain financial criteria, which may necessitate strategic asset transfers and the utilization of irrevocable trusts. By properly structuring their assets and utilizing trusts, elderly business owners can protect their business interests while still qualifying for Medicaid assistance.

One of the challenges in long-term care planning is the five-year look-back period imposed by Medicaid. Unless explicitly allowed, uncompensated asset transfers within the five years preceding the Medicaid application will subject the applicant to a period of ineligibility. This requires careful planning and the assistance of knowledgeable professionals to navigate the complex rules and ensure compliance while protecting the business assets.

Estate Planning Needs

Estate planning is another crucial aspect for elderly business owners to ensure the orderly transfer of assets and wealth to future generations while minimizing tax implications. For business owners, this involves addressing the unique challenges posed by business ownership interests.

One common strategy is the use of irrevocable trusts to hold business ownership interests. By transferring business ownership to an irrevocable trust, elderly business owners can maintain control over the business while effectively removing it from their estate. This strategy can help minimize estate taxes, protect the business from potential creditors, and facilitate a smooth transition of ownership.

Additionally, revocable trusts can be utilized to avoid probate, the legal process through which a deceased person’s assets are distributed and debts are settled. Probate can be time-consuming, expensive, and may lead to a lack of privacy. By placing assets including business ownership interests in a revocable trust, elderly business owners can bypass probate and ensure a seamless transfer of assets to their designated beneficiaries.

Business Succession Planning Needs

Business succession planning is essential for elderly business owners to ensure the continuation of their businesses and protect the interests of employees, partners, and family members. Unfortunately, many business owners neglect this aspect of planning, leading to uncertainty and potential disruptions in the event of their incapacity or death.

A comprehensive business succession plan should include identifying and training potential successors, establishing a clear transition plan, and addressing potential tax implications. Moreover, it is crucial to consider the impact of long-term care needs on the business and to align the business succession plan with the overall estate planning strategy.

Elderly business owners should work closely with their advisory team to develop a succession plan that addresses both their personal goals and the best interests of the business. This may involve implementing buy-sell agreements, using trusts to hold business interests, and exploring the integration of life and disability insurance options to fund the transition or provide liquidity for estate taxes.

Incapacity Planning

Elderly business owners should prepare for potential incapacity as part of their planning. Having the proper legal framework in place is essential to ensure the continued operation of the business if a debilitating illness or injury renders them unable to make decisions.

This can be achieved by crafting powers of attorney. A durable power of attorney allows the appointment of a trusted individual to make financial decisions on behalf of the business owner in the event of incapacity. By carefully selecting agents and providing clear instructions within these legal documents, elderly business owners can have peace of mind knowing that their businesses will be managed according to their wishes.

The Psychological Impact of Transferring Businesses

Transferring a business can have a profound psychological impact on elderly business owners. For many, their businesses are more than just a source of income; they are like their children, having been nurtured and developed for many years. The emotional attachment to the business can make the process of planning for its transfer complex and challenging.

Transferring a business may also produce mixed feelings within a family. There may be a child who is interested in taking over the business and continuing its legacy. There may not be anyone willing or capable of assuming ownership and responsibility. Alternatively, multiple family members may express interest in taking over the business, but may have different ideas and visions for its future.

It is essential for elderly business owners to openly communicate with their family members and address these concerns. Seeking professional mediation or family meetings facilitated by experienced advisors can aid discussions and ensure that the decision-making process is fair and respectful to everyone involved.

Conclusion

Elderly business owners face unique challenges in long-term care planning, estate planning, and business succession planning. Balancing Medicaid planning, utilizing irrevocable trusts to hold business ownership interests, implementing revocable trusts to avoid probate, incorporating incapacity planning, and considering psychological impacts of transferring businesses are crucial elements in addressing these needs. By engaging in comprehensive planning, assembling a well-rounded advisory team, and leveraging the expertise of professionals who take a holistic approach, elderly business owners can ensure the long-term viability of their businesses while protecting their personal and financial well-being.

09/01/2023

They found more than loose change in Arethra Franklin's couch-

Famed musician Aretha Franklin died in 2018 leaving behind her estate that was estimated to be worth $80,000,000. However, she never created an estate plan with an attorney. This left her family scrambling to figure it out in a Court battle that lasted four years.

Family members found two handwritten documents in her Michigan home purported to be her will. Although Franklin had signed and dated both documents, neither had been signed by two witnesses (a requirement in Ohio). The 2010 document was signed by a notary public (not valid). However Ms. Franklin died in Michigan which allows holographic wills (not allowed in Ohio). A holographic will is written by hand by the testator and signed.

A 2010 handwritten note (Holographic will) was located in a locked cabinet. Her son Ted asserted that the 2010 document, which was found in a locked cabinet, should be deemed to be Franklin’s will because the location in which it was found indicated it was more official.

A 2014 handwritten note (Holographic will) was in a notebook found underneath a cushion on her couch. Witnesses said Ms. Franklin carried out many tasks on the couch- such as phone calls, reading mail, signing documents and even sleeping. The 2014 document provided that Franklin’s grandchildren would inherit her $1.1 million Michigan home and her cars.

The matter was put before a jury, and the jury found that the 2014 document was a valid will under Michigan Law, which provides that a will is “valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if it is dated, and if the testator’s signature and the document’s material portions are in the testator’s handwriting.”

Aretha Franklin’s holographic will would not be valid in Ohio. Every will must have two witness signatures to be valid. Here in Ohio, her estate would have been distributed according to the state intestacy statute—because she was unmarried at her death, each son, would have received an equal share of her estate. Her grandchildren would not receive anything.

I would say the lesson of the story is to get up off your couch and go to an estate planning attorney to avoid all the legal battles and costs, but Davidson Law LLC can come to you and execute a valid Ohio Estate Plan from the comfort of your own couch.

08/28/2023

If you are a Senior and live in the Grafton area, come hear me speak at the Grafton-Midview Public Library tomorrow, August 29th! It starts at 10:00am and lunch will be served after. The topic is Estate Planning and Probate.

07/03/2023

Happy Independence Day from Davidson Law LLC!

Think of Independence Day in 2023; Images of grills, fireworks, backyards, and games fill our heads. Now picture what it was like to be back in 1776; making the decision to tell the greatest military might of its time to go shove it.

Benjamin Rush of Pennsylvania remembered the atmosphere in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia when delegates affixed their signatures to the Declaration of Independence: A “pensive and awful silence pervaded the house as we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress,” Rush said, to sign “what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants.”

Some brought humor to the proceedings. A rather rotund delegate, Benjamin Harrison, said to his smaller colleague “I shall have a great advantage over you [Elbridge Gerry] when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.” And they were almost caught, Elbridge Gerry narrowly escaped the redcoats on the night of Paul Revere’s famous ride.

Not only was their life on the line, but their inheritances was as well. William Floyd owned a large estate on Long Island. On July 19, 1776, the British confiscated his house, farm, and property until the end of the war. John Hart was an older gentleman with 13 children owning wealth and property in New Jersey. His wife died October of 1776 and subsequently the British confiscated his property. He died a wanted man hiding out in caves, out houses and dog kennels until his death in 1778, five years before victory over the British. The signers of the declaration put their life and family's estate on the line when signing.

Today signing an estate plan isn’t a death warrant like signing the declaration of independence. It’s more of a declaration of your freedom to decide who and how much is transferred upon your death.

To illustrate this forward thinking of the founding fathers, look no further than The Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin truly believed that a penny saved is a penny earned. Franklin’s Will included bequests to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia to provide low-interest loans to “young married artificers” who needed help starting businesses. The gift to each city was the equivalent of about $2,000 each which Franklin calculated under the terms of his Will would grow to many millions after more than 100 years. He was right! Millions of dollars were given out in thousands of grants to assist individuals starting businesses.

Estate planning, the act of signing your name to a document to ensure your wishes are followed, is a true act of freedom secured by the patriots that fought tyranny. The ability to freely give your things to whomever you wish after your death is a revolutionary idea. Call or email Davidson Law LLC to leave behind a declaration of your estate plan!

06/30/2023

What type of trust is best for my special needs family member?

Supplemental Needs Trust (SNT) are used when a beneficiary would like access to extra funds without jeopardizing their eligibility for public benefits. Let’s review some key differences between these trusts.

The First-Party SNT is irrevocable and is used when the assets funding the trust belong to the beneficiary. This would be if an individual has money in the bank, or comes into money, such as via a settlement or inheritance. If the funds are obtained through a settlement, an MSA subtrust may be needed. (More on that in a bit.)

Public benefits programs will let that individual still have access to the money, via the terms of the trust, but a payback provision is required. The payback provision states that after the individual has passed away, any remaining funds must be paid to the state to the extent the state expended Medicaid funds on that individual. Any funds remaining after the state has been repaid can be distributed to residuary beneficiaries.

For social security benefits, in order for the corpus of the First-Party SNT to be a non-countable asset, the First-Party SNT must have been funded before the beneficiary’s 65th birthday. (See POMS SI 01120.203B.) If the beneficiary has a structured settlement and those payments extend beyond the beneficiary’s 65th birthday, the additional payments to the trust after the 65th birthday will not be a countable asset so long as the settlement was reached and the payments began before that magical birth date.

The federal statute that keeps the corpus of a First-Party SNT from being a countable asset for Medicaid-eligibility purposes is 42 U.S. Code § 1396p(d)(4)(A). As such, a First-Party SNT is oftentimes called a d4A Trust. Per that Code section, the trust must be funded before the beneficiary’s 65th birthday.

The beneficiary of a First-Party SNT must be disabled within the definition of § 1382c(a)(3). A First-Party SNT must be established by the beneficiary, a parent, a grandparent, legal guardian, or a court.

A Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) subtrust is needed when certain types of settlements are reached, such as a Worker’s Compensation claim or injury settlement. If a settlement is reached in a case where future medical payments will be made from the settlement money, Medicare wants to ensure the settlement funds designated for that purpose will be preserved. So those funds are placed in the MSA subtrust to be used for future medical expenses.

A Third-Party SNT is funded with assets that never belonged to the beneficiary. As such, a payback provision is not required and thus the terms of the trust are more favorable. This trust is used when someone wants to put their own money aside for the beneficiary’s care and benefit. There are no age restrictions on when the Third-Party SNT must be established.

The Third-Party SNT can be revocable or irrevocable. However, the revocable Third-Party SNT is designed so as to become irrevocable on certain events: upon the death of the Grantor, when the trust is funded with retirement account benefits, or if someone other than the Grantor funds the trust with a specified dollar amount. While the Third-Party SNT is revocable, it is a grantor trust and the Grantor will be taxed on the income of that trust. If someone other than the Grantor funds the trust with a large dollar amount, the Grantor would likely not want to be taxed on the income from those funds.

The Grantor may choose to make the trust irrevocable from the onset if she knows that retirement account funds will be funded into the trust, if someone other than the Grantor plans on funding the trust with a substantial amount, or if she otherwise doesn’t want to be taxed on the trust income. Also, if the Grantor dies while the trust is revocable, the funds in the trust will be included in the Grantor’s estate; she may not desire that outcome and so she may design the Third-Party SNT as an irrevocable trust.

The First-Party (Self-Settled) SNT and Third-Party SNT are just two of the trusts available at Davidson Law LLC. Other trusts available are a Revocable Living Trust, Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, Medicaid Family Protection Trust, Veterans Asset Protection Trust, Miller Trust, Sole Benefit Trust, Parental Protection Trust, and Secure Supplemental Needs Trust.

Please contact Davidson Law LLC if you have any questions or would like to schedule a free initial consultation.