Family Law

• Divorce
  If an agreement is not reached by the parties during negotiations, or one party refuses to cooperate, the Judge will determine the division of assets and debts, as well as custody. Often in contested divorce matters which involve children, the parties can request or the court can appoint an attorney called a Guardian ad Litem, to represent the interest of the children. The Guardian ad Litem will interview and observe the children at home and sometimes at school to make a report and testify in court if shared parenting is appropriate or which parent should have primary custody of the children.
• Child Support
  A Plan for Shared Parenting properly allocates the parental rights and responsibilities of the parties and includes all relevant factors to be considered in the care and support of the minor children of the parties including, but not limited to, physical location of the children, child support, medical, dental and psychological treatment, school placement and continuing contact between the minor children and the parties. One parent is designated the Aresidential parent for school placement purposes. This residential parent status is only for the school system to have an address of the children on record and does not give one parent more influence than the other.
• Child Custody and Visitation
  In the state of Ohio, a marriage can be terminated either by divorce or dissolution. If the parties are unable to agree on the terms of their separation, including issues such as property and asset division, child custody/visitation, child or spousal support amounts, and division of debts, we advise that at least one party retain counsel and file a Complaint for Divorce in order to begin the litigation process. Alternatively, if the parties agree on all aspects of their separation, including, but not limited to the issues above, we advise that a party file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and a Separation Agreement.
• Premarital Agreement
  Thomas Law Group advises and assists clients with preparing and entering into Prenuptial Agreements, also referred to as Antenuptial Agreements.  We recommend that anyone contemplating marriage at least consider the benefits of a Prenuptial Agreement.
• Spousal Support
  Spousal support (often called alimony) is not awarded in every case. However, one (1) party can be ordered or can agree to pay the other party spousal support for a determined length of time. When attempting to determine a fair and reasonable amount of spousal support, the court considers the following factors in Ohio Revised Code Section 3105.18(C)(1)...

Business and Corporate Law

• Business Formation
  Primary Areas of Practice: Employment, Family Law, Representation of Dental Practices and Owners, Dental, Business Formation and Representation, Estate Planning
• Business Disputes
  We have advised and assisted many area businesses and individuals in contract disputes, buying and selling businesses, formation of or dissolution of Limited Liability Companies and Corporations. We provide ongoing professional services to our corporate clients, to include the preparation of annual minutes and providing general corporate counsel.
• Business Transactions
  Cheryl H. DeVore is the senior partner at Thomas Law Group.  She has focused a significant portion of her law practice toward working with health care practitioners including dentists, physicians, and veterinarians in the areas of business transactions, including acquisitions and sales, contracts, business formation, commercial real estate sale and acquisitions, and ongoing representation, as well as estate planning and probate.
• Limited Liability Companies

Employment Law

• Employment Contract
  More specifically, our attorneys have assisted our clients with their real estate issues, employment agreements and disputes, employee release of claims, lawsuit defense, collections, equipment leases, as well as assist with many other day-to-day business questions.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
  Primary Areas of Practice: General Business Matters, Entity Formation (Corporation or Limited Liability Company) and Corporate Upkeep, Real Estate Matters, Contract Matters including drafting and review, and Land Use and Zoning Matters
• Real Estate Transactions
  Chad P. Hanke is a partner at Thomas Law Group and focuses a significant portion of his law practice toward working with health care practitioners including dentists, physicians, and veterinarians in the areas of business transactions, including acquisitions and sales, contracts, business formation, commercial real estate sale and acquisitions, Board matters and ongoing representation.
• Land Use and Zoning

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Mackenzie L. Ferguson was raised in West Jefferson, Ohio. She graduated Cum Laude from the University of Cincinnati, where she received a B.S. in Criminal Justice. Ms. Ferguson graduated and received her Juris Doctorate from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio. During law school, Ms. Ferguson was a member of the Law Review and was a Teaching Assistant for the first-year Legal Research and Writing students. Admitted to practice in November 2018, she is now a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Columbus Bar Association, where she participates in the Estate Planning and Trust Committee and the Probate Administration Committee.
• Trusts
  Probating an estate can be avoided or reduced by creating and funding a living trust, establishing transfer on death accounts, and re-titling certain property to transfer on death to another person. These items can be accomplished with a complete estate plan after a review of your assets and liabilities. However, probate is not always something to be avoided and specific circumstances may warrant the probate of an estate as a preferred alternative.
• Power of Attorney
  We often recommend as a basis for any estate plan, that a will, a general durable power of attorney, living will, and health care power of attorney be included.
• Probate
  Our partners, associates, and employees at Thomas Law Group are members of various professional associations. These are just a few: American Bar Association (Members), Ohio State Bar Association (Members), Columbus Bar Association (Members), Lawyers for Justice and Probate Law Committee, Family Law Committee, Business Law Section, Delaware Bar Association (Members), American Dental Association (Members), American Dental Education Association (Members), Legal Issues Special Interest Group, Ohio Dental Association (Members), Columbus Dental Association (Members), Dental Network Group (Members), and Dublin Chamber of Commerce (Members).

Finance Law

• Tax Law
  A Simple Will is a will that does not include trust language or other provisions that are designed to minimize federal or state estate taxes that might be assessed against a larger estate upon death or address income tax matters. While a Simple Will is sufficient for many people, others have minor children or estates significant in size that warrant more complicated estate planning measures and so we work with clients to include trusts in their estate plan as appropriate. For example, parents may wish to distribute inheritances to their children over a period of time so the child does not inherit a large sum at once. A trust can be set up to distribute sums at certain ages or upon achieving specific goals such as a college education. While trusts are a greater cost initially, they may more effectively preserve assets, address taxes and distribute your wealth upon death. Generally, with a Trust your property will not go through the probate process when you die and this allows for privacy for matters of your estate without court intervention.