Ohio Estate Tax Planning

For most American families, the federal estate tax is not a necessary consideration in the planning of their estates. With the current federal estate tax exclusion set at $3,500,000, it is estimated that only ½ of 1% of American households will be affected by the federal estate tax. Despite this statistic, however, many clients without federal estate tax concerns will nevertheless be subject to the Ohio estate tax.

The exclusion amount for the Ohio estate tax is only $338,333, which means that this tax will likely affect a great many more clients than the federal estate tax. Proper planning that takes this tax liability into consideration can yield impressive tax savings for clients.

Despite this, however, many practitioners either fail to take the Ohio estate tax into consideration for their clients or improperly plan for optimization of the exclusion amount. A lack of planning for the Ohio estate tax can create an unnecessary but substantial tax liability for the clients, while traditional planning formulas designed for federal estate tax purposes often produce undesirable results for clients whose estates are not subject to the federal estate tax. Moreover, of the practitioners who do plan for the Ohio estate tax, many fail to understand and maximize the estate tax savings possible through Ohio’s distinctive estate tax system.

At Smith and Condeni, we pride ourselves on tailoring our planning efforts for each client’s unique personal and financial circumstances. For those clients that need to integrate Ohio estate tax planning into their estate plans, we provide plan designs that allow us to take full advantage of two separate Ohio estate tax deductions that will increase the portion of a client’s estate to be excluded from the Ohio estate tax beyond the $338,333 exclusion amount. This strategy allows us to create additional tax savings for our clients above and beyond what even traditional planning can offer, and, most importantly, gives us the opportunity to create a custom estate plan design for each of our clients.

Practice Area Attorneys

N. Lindsey Smith, Jennifer B. Cusimano, Dennis J. Siciliano, Robin Rose Stiller, Holly N. Denham, John R. Tullio
 

Please contact Smith and Condeni for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.