Marie Mirro Edmonds
Counselor at Law

I began practicing law in 1979 right after graduating from law school. For the first 9 years, I practiced with a small, insurance subrogation firm in Cleveland, and, from 1982 until 1988, I was the Managing Partner at their Medina office. In 1989, I opened my own firm and during my first year, I discovered the estate planning field which has been my area of expertise ever since. In addition to estate planning, I've moved into elder law planning within the last several years and now handle estate planning, trusts, wills, probate, post-administration of trusts, Medicaid planning, and long-term care planning. I'm pleased to have found an area of the law I like so well and I really love working with older clients.

Ohio now allows attorneys to become certified specialists trust and estate planning by meeting certain requirements and passing a stringent exam. I'm very proud of the fact that the first time the test was given, I was one of only eighty attorneys in the State of Ohio to become certified as an estate planning specialist. This is my area of concentration and I spend a lot of time continually educating myself to stay abreast of recent developments in the estate planning field. I'm the only attorney in our office, but, I have three wonderful legal assistants who impress me with their degree of caring for our clients, also. They've played a major role in helping us build a reputation for making sure our clients are satisfied and receive the best estate planning and elder law advice possible.

Estate planning is making plans so that upon your death or in the event you become mentally disabled, you have someone in charge of your affairs who can make sure that you are taken care of and your wishes are followed. I really think it is important for young couples to be doing estate planning to make sure that they have the right person named to be the guardian for their children if something happens to them. They need someone acting as the trustee of their children's money, managing it for them until they are the appropriate age. Another important aspect in estate planning is arranging to have someone in place to make medical and financial decisions for you if you become mentally unable to handle these details yourself. You need to have someone handling your directions about how you would like to be taken care of, what you do and don't want to see happen, how you want your money spent, and, of course, the necessary arrangements in place for the ongoing support of anyone else presently in your care.

Elder law really blends well with estate planning because elder law typically means making sure we have wills, powers of attorney, living wills, and healthcare powers of attorney. You need to have plans for possible long-term care whether financed by insurance, Medicaid, or yourself and you want to have a plan to protect your assets so they aren't all spent on your long-term care.

Many times people will ask how much money they need to have to be able to consider a trust, but it really has little to do with money. Depending on your family situation and your goals, a trust can be the right vehicle for you regardless of your net worth. A trust can make sure your children are taken care of and don't get money too soon. Perhaps you have a child who can't manage their money or one who is going to inherit from you but is having financial difficulties or marriage problems. If they would inherit money right now, it might be the worst thing that could happen. With a trust, you can protect them and protect their inheritance. My most important goal is to find out what your concerns are, what you want to accomplish, and what's the best way to accomplish that. You need someone with experience who can help you choose between your available options and that's what I do.

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