Family Wealth & Estate Planning Attorneys in Columbus, OH
Protect your family, your assets, and your long-term legacy with thoughtful legal planning tailored to you.
Protect What Matters Most
Estate planning is about more than deciding who receives your assets. It is about protecting your family, preserving your wishes, planning for incapacity, reducing future stress, and creating a clear path forward for the people who matter most to you.
At Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP, our family wealth and estate planning attorneys help individuals, families, business owners, and high-net-worth households create practical, personalized plans that reflect both current needs and long-term goals. From wills and trusts to probate, elder law, and business succession planning, our team helps clients in Columbus and throughout Central Ohio plan with clarity and confidence.
“The CPM team was exactly what I needed when setting up my estate. Everything was quick and easy, and now I’m hiring them again to help me handle other legal matters. Would recommend them to anyone looking for legal advice!” –Aaron Williamson
Family Wealth & Estate Planning Services
Estate Planning & Trust Services
Create a plan that clearly reflects your wishes and supports your family during life and after death. Services include last will and testament, living wills, trust creation and administration, health care powers of attorney, financial power of attorneys, tax reduction strategies, gifting strategies, and related planning tools.
Estate Planning Questionnaire
Probate & Trust Administration
Get experienced guidance through probate, estate administration, and trust administration after the loss of a loved one.
Business Succession Planning
Protect the future of your company with succession strategies tied to ownership, management transition, tax planning, and long-term family or leadership goals.
Special Needs Planning
Create sustainable structures that protect loved ones with disabilities while supporting long-term care and benefit eligibility.
Elder Law Planning
Plan for long-term care, asset protection, changing health needs, and the practical realities that often arise later in life.
Premarital Agreements
Support future financial clarity with carefully drafted agreements that address separate and marital property concerns.
Why Families and Business Owners Choose CPM
The attorneys in Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP’s Family Wealth & Estate Planning Practice Group take pride in guiding clients through the important process of protecting their families and their assets.
Collaborative Legal Guidance
Estate planning often overlaps with tax, business, real estate, and family matters. CPM is built to support that bigger picture.
Rooted in Central Ohio
With offices in Columbus and Dublin, CPM serves families and business owners throughout the region.
Comprehensive Planning
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, probate, elder law, and business succession planning in one place.
Built for Complexity
Ideal for business owners, blended families, high-net-worth households, and clients with long-term planning needs.
“Our experience with CPM was very helpful and enlightening. They handled a messy situation with calm & excellence. I’d recommend them to anyone.” –Wendy Jorgensen
Meet Our Family Wealth & Estate Planning Attorneys
Our family wealth and estate planning team advises individuals, families, fiduciaries, and business owners on wills, trusts, probate, elder law, special needs planning, and succession matters. We combine practical guidance with long-term thinking so clients can make informed decisions with confidence.
Client Success Stories
From crafting tailored plans that minimize tax burdens to guiding families through complex probate matters, our success stories reflect our commitment to preserving what matters most.
Success Story
Creating a Charitable Legacy
The Problem
Nevin Demmitt and his wife, Vickie, residents of Mount Victory, Ohio, navigated retirement planning challenges, particularly due to Nevin’s farming career’s tax implications. Consulting with an estate planning attorney from Carlile Patchen & Murphy, they devised a plan involving a charitable remainder trust to finance retirement and leave a charitable legacy.
Our Solution
By selling grain and equipment through the trust, they minimize taxation, with over $90,000 estimated to go to charity. They use public foundations to extend their charitable impact through endowed funds and scholarships. Nevin has no regrets about the plan, describing it as a “win-win” situation.
Learn more about our Estate & Wealth Planning Services.
Success Story
Business Succession Planning for Family-Owned Business
The Problem
A family-owned business was approaching a generational transition, and the owners needed to develop a succession plan that would keep the business running smoothly while minimizing tax liabilities.
Our Solution
Our attorney worked closely with the business owner to structure a plan that addressed ownership transition, minimizing estate and gift taxes while ensuring that the business remained operational and profitable. The company successfully transitioned to the next generation with a clear, tax-efficient succession plan that preserved both family legacy and business value.
Success Story
Succession Planning for Closely Held Businesses
The Problem
Family-owned businesses sought guidance on planning for smooth leadership transitions and preserving business operations for future generations.
Our Solution
Our attorney provided comprehensive succession planning services, ensuring the family business owner had clear strategies for passing leadership and ownership to the next generation while minimizing taxes and protecting family relationships.
Business owners successfully transitioned leadership with minimal disruption to daily operations and a clear path forward for future growth and stability. Learn more about our Business, Taxation and Estate Services.
Estate Planning Attorneys: Frequently Asked Questions
+What does a family wealth and estate planning attorney do?
A family wealth and estate planning attorney helps clients create legal documents that protect assets, provide for loved ones, prepare for incapacity, and guide the transfer of wealth. This can include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, probate guidance, elder law planning, and business succession planning.
+Do I need a will and a trust?
Not everyone needs a trust, but many people benefit from having both a will and other planning documents in place. The right structure depends on your assets, family situation, privacy concerns, and long-term goals.
+What is the difference between estate planning and probate?
Estate planning is the process of preparing legal documents and strategies in advance of death. Probate is the legal process of administering someone’s estate after death. A thoughtful estate plan may help simplify or reduce probate-related complications.
+When should I create an estate plan?
It is wise to create an estate plan as soon as you have assets, dependents, business interests, or specific wishes you want documented. Estate planning is not only for retirees or high-net-worth families.
+When Should You Update Your Estate Plan?
Estate planning is not something most people should do once and forget about. Your plan should be reviewed as life changes. It may be time to update your estate plan if you have experienced:
- Marriage or divorce
- The birth or adoption of a child
- The death of a spouse, beneficiary, trustee, or executor
- A major change in assets or financial circumstances
- The sale, growth, or transfer of a business
- Retirement
- A move to a new state
- A significant health change
- Changes in tax law or family dynamics
+Can estate planning help business owners?
Yes. Business owners often need estate planning that addresses business continuity, ownership transition, tax concerns, and succession goals in addition to personal family planning.
+What is a special needs trust?
A special needs trust is a planning tool that can help support a loved one with disabilities without interfering with eligibility for certain public benefits.
+Can estate planning help avoid probate in Ohio?
In some situations, yes. Certain planning tools, including trusts and proper asset titling, may help reduce the amount of property that passes through probate. The right strategy depends on your circumstances.
+Do you offer estate planning services in Columbus and Dublin?
Yes. CPM serves clients from offices in Columbus and Dublin and works with individuals, families, and business owners throughout Ohio.
Talk With a Family Wealth & Estate Planning Attorney
Protect your family, preserve your wishes, and plan for the future with a legal strategy built around what matters most to you.
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