Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Our firm has extensive expertise in the estate planning area. Our lawyers practice in all areas of personal succession, business succession, insurance and asset protection planning. Thus we are able to provide a full range of expert estate planning services at a very reasonable cost to individuals and families who have "typical" assets and family goals as well as to the business owner who has assets that include a family business and consequently difficult transfer and succession tax issues. We also have several lawyers who specialize in the charitable aspect of estate planning and can assist in integrating charitable giving into a client's estate plan to achieve tax savings and to fulfill the client's philanthropic objectives. Our lawyers work with accountants, financial planners and other advisors to develop and implement comprehensive strategies to achieve our clients' diverse goals.

Business succession planning includes numerous techniques of passing control and ownership of a business from one owner or group of owners to the next generation of owners. Many of our business estate planning clients own "family" businesses where proper planning can affect the financial welfare of several generations. A proper plan is essential to the continued financial stability of a family business. The tax laws involved in this area of planning are numerous and complicated and require expert analysis.

Insurance planning includes the difficult issues of identifying insurance needs and structuring life insurance ownership to meet those needs. Our lawyers, in addition to assisting and advising the client on insurance issues, have a wide range of experts to draw upon to consult with the client.

Asset protection planning is a diverse area of estate planning. Family limited partnerships and limited liability companies can be used to protect a client's assets from spurious lifetime claims and liabilities and to assist in the transfer of those assets to a younger generation.

Our extensive experience in charitable estate planning encompasses the spectrum from outright gifts to the many charitable planned gifts and deferred giving options now available under current tax laws. This planning enables a client to make meaningful lifetime or testamentary gifts to selected charities while enjoying the resulting personal and tax benefits. Our experience in this area has allowed us to serve on many local foundations and to represent a number of local charities.

Estate planning is a complex area that often involves many related areas of the law. Our clients frequently face complicated real estate, tax, corporate and pension planning issues that have an significant impact on their estate plans. The skills of our estate planners and their ability to draw upon the expertise of specialists in other departments of our firm ensure that our clients will have a comprehensive, effective estate plan to meet their particular needs and wishes.

Our Commitment to Diversity

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is committed to attracting, retaining, and promoting individuals of diverse backgrounds to ensure that our firm reflects the clients we represent and our values of inclusion.  We believe that embracing differences in ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, religion, and other characteristics, helps us consider the full range of perspectives our clients face and the goals they seek to achieve, allowing us to provide more creative, insightful, and complete guidance and counsel.  By affirmatively embracing and appreciating those differences, we create a supportive working environment at Shumaker for all individuals of the firm.

Diversity in Action

Shumaker's commitment to diversity is reflected in the following measures:

1. Creation of a Diversity & Inclusion Committee to coordinate and direct our diversity initiatives. Our committee is made up of partners (including at least one member of the Firm’s management committee), associates and administrative personnel.
2. Recipient of the 2013 Gold Standard Certification by Women in Law Empowerment Forum, which is given only to firms that have demonstrated that women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, are involved in the highest leadership positions and have meaningful representation in the ranks of the firm’s most highly compensated partners. Shumaker was one of only 42 firms in the country to have received this prestigious award in 2013.
3. Creation of Shumaker’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, a firm-sponsored group dedicated to promoting, developing and fostering the potential of our female attorneys, helping them to navigate a path to a successful and satisfying legal career at the Firm, and to serve as leaders within the legal and business communities.
4. Membership and active participation in organizations that support diversity initiatives in our communities. Such organizations include, without limitation, racial, ethnic, disability, gender/LGBT and age initiatives.
5. Diversity in our hiring, advancement and leadership practices, for attorneys as well as staff members, including our Summer Associate Program.
6. Annual participation in the Toledo Bar Association’s Minority Clerkship Program.
7. Annual participation in the Ohio State Bar Foundation Law and Leadership Program, a program to establish a pipeline into the legal profession for disadvantaged students from underserved schools.
8. Membership in Partners in Education, a program in which our employees serve as tutors and mentors and provide ongoing financial support to area schools and students in need.
9. Cultivation of leadership opportunities among all attorneys and staff, recognizing the importance and benefit of diversity in leadership.
10. Firm-wide participation in periodic diversity education seminars or training programs.
11. Informal programs implemented firm-wide to enhance our awareness and understanding of the importance and benefits of diversity among our workforce and promote inclusion.