You can’t be casual about a will

By Patricia Nugent

During an episode of the television show Succession, a signed document is discovered in which the deceased patriarch has either underlined or crossed out the name of one of his children, supposedly to be the next president of the company. The greedy children each interpret it differently, wondering what the father’s true final wishes were.

I’ve written enough stories interviewing Attorney Margaret T. Karl to know the answer (spoiler alert): It doesn’t matter what he meant. Unless the document is a legal will and testament, it holds no water. I asked Margie why.

“Things are so informal nowadays, people often think if they simply sign something that makes it a legal document,” she says. “I’ll often have clients think if they already have a legal will in place, that it’s okay to cross out things or add them in pen, or add a sticky note, but that won’t hold up in court.”

There are specific authentication protocols from the Ohio Revised Code that must be in place for a court to consider a will legal.

“Sometimes people will go as far as having a document witnessed and notarized by a notary public, but that doesn’t meet the criteria for a valid will,” explains Margie.

Other issues that must be covered in a legal document that people often take for granted are things like LLCs and corporations.

“People are loose and informal when it comes to these, often forgetting to tell me they have an LLC set up with another family member and they don’t need to include it,” she says.

Margaret T. Karl, attorney at law, is located at 25800 North Depot Street, Suite 102, in Olmsted Falls. Call 440-782-5051 or visit OlmstedOhioLaw.com.