FAQ
Answers to Common Questions
Straight answers to the questions Canton area families ask us most. Don’t see yours? Give us a call.
Common Questions
Estate Planning
Do I really need a will if my estate is small?
If you have young children, yes — a will is where you name the guardian who would raise them, and that has nothing to do with how much you own. Even without children, a will lets you decide who receives sentimental items and who handles your affairs. Without one, Ohio law decides both for you.
What’s the difference between a will and a living trust?
A will directs where your property goes after death, but it still passes through probate court. A living trust holds your property during your lifetime and passes it on afterward without court involvement, keeps the terms private, and lets you control the timing of what beneficiaries receive. Most families do fine with a will; a trust earns its keep in specific situations.
What is a power of attorney and do I need one?
A power of attorney names someone to act for you if you can’t act for yourself. There are two kinds — a financial one covering banking, taxes, and property, and a health care one covering medical decisions. Without them, your family has to ask a court to appoint someone, which costs money and takes time at the worst possible moment.
When should I update my estate plan?
After any major life change — a marriage or divorce, a birth or adoption, a death in the family, a move into or out of Ohio, buying or selling a business, or a meaningful change in what you own. It’s also worth a look whenever the person you named as executor, trustee, or guardian is no longer the right choice. Absent any of that, every few years.
Does having a will avoid probate?
No. A will gives instructions for how probate should go; it doesn’t skip the process. Avoiding probate takes different tools — trusts, joint ownership, beneficiary designations, and transfer-on-death arrangements.
Probate
What happens if a loved one dies without a will in Ohio?
Ohio law decides who inherits, using a fixed formula based on who survives. For a married couple whose children are all from that marriage, the spouse generally inherits everything. Blended families are where it gets complicated — the estate is split between the surviving spouse and children from a previous relationship, which can force the sale of a family home.
How are estate debts handled?
Legitimate debts and taxes are paid from estate assets before anything is distributed to heirs. Ohio gives creditors roughly six months from the date of death to bring claims, which is the main reason probate takes as long as it does. Beneficiaries generally don’t inherit someone’s debts personally.
Is there a simplified probate for small estates?
Yes. Ohio has shortened procedures that let smaller estates skip full administration, and those can wrap up in weeks rather than months. Whether an estate qualifies depends on its value and on who’s inheriting, and it’s one of the first things worth asking about.
What property actually goes through probate?
Only property that was in the deceased person’s name alone. Anything owned jointly with survivorship rights, anything with a valid beneficiary named on it, and anything held in a trust passes outside the process entirely. That’s why two estates of similar size can have completely different experiences.
Real Estate
What is a title issue, and can it be fixed?
It means a title search turned up something in the property’s recorded history that needs cleaning up before ownership can transfer cleanly — an old mortgage never released, a lien from a job that was paid, a misspelled name on a decades-old deed. Most are fixable. Timing is what matters: a problem found during a sale is a delay, while the same problem found years later can be a much larger project.
What is an easement?
An easement is the right to use part of someone else’s land for a specific purpose — a shared driveway, a utility line, access to a parcel with no road frontage. Easements come with the land, so if you buy a property that has one, it becomes yours to live with. The trouble usually starts with arrangements that were never written down.
What can I do about a property line disagreement with a neighbor?
Start with a survey, which establishes where the line actually is — a surprising number of these resolve right there. If it doesn’t, the next step is usually a written agreement between the two owners, recorded so it binds whoever owns the properties next.
Do I need a new deed to put my home in a trust or an LLC?
Yes. Moving property into a trust or an LLC requires a properly prepared and recorded deed — the trust document by itself doesn’t transfer anything. It’s also worth checking your mortgage terms first, since some loans have language about transfers.
Working With Fry Law
Is the initial consultation really free?
For estate planning and probate, yes — a full sixty minutes, confidential, with no obligation to hire us. For real estate and business matters, we’ll confirm the consultation fee before anything is scheduled.
Will I work with an attorney or with staff?
You work directly with one of our attorneys, from the first consultation through the completion of your matter. No handoffs.
What areas do you serve?
Our office is in Canton, and most of our clients are in Stark County and the surrounding communities. We’re licensed throughout Ohio, and in Kentucky as well.
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