Estate Planning & Asset Protection

  • WE ASSIST OVER 600 ESTATE PLANNING CLIENTS EACH YEAR

    Make It

  • IN TOTAL, WE HAVE HELPED OVER 4,000 CLIENTS WITH THEIR ESTATE PLANNING NEEDS

    Make It

  • OUR CLIENTS' NET WORTHS RANGE FROM THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO OVER ONE BILLION

    Make It

  • WE OFFER STREAMLINED AND CUSTOMIZED PLANS FOR EVERY BUDGET

    Click Here

Estate Planning

Basic Estate Planning

There’s a saying that everyone has an estate plan—it’s either the plan you create on your own or the one forced upon you by the government. No offense to the government, but the best plan for you and your family will be the one you create with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney.

Over the course of many years helping thousands of clients, we have developed and fine-tuned the five phases of our estate planning process—(1) the introductory phase, where we talk with you and gather information about you and your family, (2) the design phase, where we review your concerns and objectives and prepare drafts of your legal documents (typically a Will, durable/financial power of attorney, and healthcare power of attorney, plus, on occasion, a revocable trust and/or living will—we know it’s a lot, but we’ll go through the purpose of each document), (3) the execution phase, where we meet to sign documents, (4) the implementation phase, where we talk you through beneficiary designations and titling of assets, as well as other necessary post-signing steps, and (5) the maintenance phase, where we meet or talk as needed to make sure your plan continues to reflect your wishes and is being properly implemented.

We have spent our careers making sure clients receive thorough and top quality legal assistance in an expedient and cost-effective manner, and finding that balance has been what really sets our firm apart.

COST-EFFECTIVE AND INNOVATIVE ESTATE PLANNING FOR OHIO RESIDENTS

Plan in Place is a streamlined and cost-effective way to build your estate plan. Offered exclusively by Pappas Gibson, Plan in Place combines the efficiency of an online service such as Legal Zoom with the peace of mind and security that comes from the legal advice of our experienced attorneys.

The world is a litigious place, especially for professionals and business owners. We can help you determine whether any steps are warranted to protect your assets.

Asset Protection

The world is a litigious place, especially for professionals and business owners. We can help you determine whether any steps are warranted to protect your assets, and then help you understand and implement appropriate techniques, such as limited liability companies (LLCs) and domestic asset protection trusts (DAPTs), or Ohio legacy trusts.

As our clients know, a few simple steps can go a long way.

When we work with our high net worth clients and ultra high net worth clients, the objective is not automatically to save every penny we can in taxes—it’s to help you define your legacy.

High Net Worth Planning

When we work with our high net worth clients and ultra high net worth clients, the objective is not automatically to save every penny we can in taxes—it’s to help you define your legacy, and then determine how we can best preserve wealth and guarantee that your legacy is carried out.

While it is certainly true that, as part of the process, we advise clients on a wide variety of acronyms (SLATs, GRATs, ILITs, SCINs, QPRTs, IDGTs, CLATs, CRTs, and FLPs, to name a few), the true skill we offer, and have honed through experience, is knowing how and when to make use of all these tools.

One of the most rewarding parts of practicing law is being the architect of a client's philanthropic plans. 

Private Foundations & Nonprofits

One of the most rewarding parts of practicing law is being the architect of a client's philanthropic plans.  By that, we mean being able to help them see possibilities they didn't even realize existed, and then help plan and create a meaningful and lasting legacy. 

In terms of the nuts and bolts, we help create tax-exempt organizations, whether they be public charities or private foundations, and we also help clients weigh the various planning options to determine what path might be most appropriate. Once the organizations are established, we can also assist with tax returns and other required annual filings.

Meet Our Estate Planning Attorney

MATTHEW GIBSON

Matt has practiced law since 2006, and has worked with thousands of clients during that period. He gravitated towards estate planning as soon as he graduated from law school, as he saw the practice area as an opportunity to engage in his two greatest passions—meeting with and getting to know people, and writing. He is not kidding when he says that he thinks about estate planning, and the estate planning process, incessantly, and that he is always looking for ways to improve our services and better help clients.