Michael J. Stegman

Admitted to Practice

  • State of Ohio (1983)
  • Commonwealth of Kentucky (1984)

Education

  • J.D., New York University School of Law (1983)
  • Associate Editor, New York University Review of Law and Social Change (1982 - 1983)
  • B.A., University of Notre Dame (1980), magna cum laude
  • Foreign Study: University of Innsbruck, Austria (1977-78)

Certifications

  • Certified by the Ohio State Bar Association as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law

Michael J. Stegman

As an estate planner, Michael focuses on helping clients establish and preserve a lasting legacy. He provides the peace of mind that comes through implementing plans to protect and encourage family members over multiple generations. Michael’s particular areas of focus are:

  • Advising on how to appropriately benefit decendants over time according to clients’ values and wishes.  
  • Protecting assets from the claims of descendants’ creditors and divorcing spouses, and from descendants’ errant behavior.
  • Preserving special assets such as family businesses and legacy assets, including vacation properties and art.
  • Substantially reducing or eliminating wealth transfer taxes on a multi-generational basis. These include the gift and estate taxes and the generation-skipping transfer tax.
  • Preserving nest egg assets from clients’ potential creditors through the use of asset protection trusts.
  • Advising on income tax residency in low-tax states and avoiding residency claims by high-tax states.
  • Advising on the ramifications of the clients’ or decendants’ dual nationality, marriage to a foreign person, residence abroad, and holding of foreign assets, with a particular emphasis on Germany.
  • Implementing charitable intentions through trusts and private foundations.
  • Protecting family privacy.
  • Advising on pre-nuptial agreements that serve to protect separate family property.

For more than thirty years, Michael has been paying careful attention to the unique circumstances of each client and fashioning an appropriate plan. Respecting client confidences is central to his practice.

Michael is a co-author of the Ohio Legacy Trust Act and other trust and asset protection reforms that became law in Ohio in 2013. For information on Legacy Trusts, please see his publication,  “Ohio Legacy Trusts-Purpose, Structure and Implementation.”

As part of his international estate planning practice, Michael regularly represents Germans, Canadians, Austrians and other nationals who reside in the U.S. or who have investment property here. He works with professionals in foreign jurisdictions to develop plans that respect both laws. Michael is familiar with the international treaties that pertain to practice in this area. Please see his publication, “United States Wealth Transfer Taxation: An Overview for the Non-U.S. Person.”

Michael understands the various matrimonial property systems that exist in states of the U.S. and abroad, including separate property, community property, and hybrid regimes. This knowledge is valuable in preparing domestic pre-nuptial agreements and international estate plans. Please see his presentation, “Matrimonial Property Regimes in a Cross-Border Context“.

For U.S. citizens and Green Card holders who determine to live permanently abroad, Michael advises on planning to legitimately avoid the U.S. expatriation tax (“exit tax”). Please see his publication, “Advising the Expatriating American: Beware the Exit Tax.”

Memberships & Affiliations

Honors & Awards

  • Phi Beta Kappa (Epsilon of Indiana at the University of Notre Dame)
  • Martindale-Hubbell rated AV – Preeminent, with judicial endorsement Best Lawyers in America
  • Recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer

Presentations

“The U.S. Exit Tax” as part of “Inbound Planning”

ALI-CLE International Trust and Tax Planning Institute, December 2020

U.S. – Germany Estate, Gift and Inheritance Tax Treaty

International Estate Planning Committee of ACTEC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 2019

The Private International Law Concerning the Applicability of Matrimonial Property Regimes

STEP Deutschland Konferenz, Frankfurt, Germany, February 2019

Matrimonial Property in the American States: Choice-of-Law and Conflict-of-Laws Issues

The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, Lisbon, Portugal, May 2018

Taxation of Gain on the Sale of Equity Interest Held by a Non-Ohio Resident in a Company that Does Business in Ohio

Ohio ACTEC Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2018

“Corrigan and T. Ryan Legg Irrevocable Trust: The Ohio Supreme Court and the Taxation of Gain on the Sale of Equity Interest Held by a Non-Ohio Resident in a Company that Does Business in Ohio”

Ohio ACTEC Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2018

Trust Assets In Divorce Actions : How to Protect Against a Beneficiary’s Prospective Ex

Presentation to the Marvin R. Plisken Advanced Estate Planning Institute, Columbus, Ohio September 2016
ACTEC Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona, March 2017
The Cincinnati Bar Association Advanced Estate Planning Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, March 2017
The Ohio State Bar Association Family Law Institute, March 2018

Tax Planning Issues for U.S. Expatriation

Strafford Publications webinar, June 2017, co-presenter

Representing the Foreign National in Estate Planning

Presentation to the Ohio ACTEC Conference, Columbus, Ohio, April 2016

Presentation to the Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute, South Bend, Indiana, September, 2015 by Michael J. Stegman

Michael J. Stegman, a partner at Kohnen & Patton LLP, presented “What Clients Want: Asset Protection for Themselves and Their Heirs; Advising on Asset Protection Trusts” to the Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute in South Bend, Indiana, September of 2012.

The European Union Succession Regulation: a U.S. Perspective

Presentation to the STEP Germany Conference, Stuttgart, February 2015 by Michael J. Stegman.

The Ohio Legacy Trust Act

ARA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law, Domestic Asset Protection Trust Planning : Jurisdiction Selection Series, October 2014

Domestic Asset Protection Trusts: Who’s on First? And How You Know When You’re Even in the Ball Park

Presentation to the University of Kentucky College of Law 41st Annual Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute, Lexington, Kentucky - July 2014 by Michael J. Stegman

Presentations to the First Annual Asset Protection & Legacy Trust Institute to an audience of over 700 professionals April, 2013 by Michael J. Stegman.

Presentation to the International Estate Planning Institute, New York State Bar Association and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, New York, March, 2013 by Michael J. Stegman.

Presentation to the New York State Bar Association International Section Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2012 by Michael J. Stegman.

Presentation to the Estate Planning Conference on Wealth Transfer, Columbus, Ohio, June 2012 by Michael J. Stegman.

Presentation to the International Estate Planning Committee of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Coronado, California, October 2011 by Michael J. Stegman.

The Expatriation Trust

Presentation to the Delaware Trust Conference, Wilmington, Delaware, December 2010 by Michael J. Stegman.

The International Executive As A Client

Presentation to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Chicago, Illinois, May 2010 by Michael J. Stegman.

The Decanting – Friendly Trust : A Second Look after the Second Death

Presentation to the Cincinnati Estate Planning Council, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 2010 by Michael J. Stegman.

Presentation to the Ohio fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2011 by Michael J. Stegman.

The New Alternative Tax Regime on U.S. Expatriates

Presentation to the Estate Planning Conference on Wealth Transfer, Columbus, Ohio, June 2009 by Michael J. Stegman.

Publications

The Practical Tax Lawyer - ALI CLE, March 2021

Michael Stegman provides a summary of how the U.S. gift, estate and generation skipping transfer taxes affect foreign persons.

Besteuerung unentgeltlicher Übertragungen in den USA (Wealth Transfer Taxation in the USA)

in von Oertzen & Loose, Erbschaftssteur- und Schenkungssteuergesetz: Kommentar, Köln: Verlag Dr. Otto Schmidt KG, 2017

Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Vol. 27, No. 5, May/June 2017, co-authors Michael J. Stegman and Alethea Teh Busken

Michael Stegman provides a summary of the Ohio Legacy Trust for clients concerned about asset protection.

Trust & Trustees, 2015 21 (8):862-867,doi:10.1093/tantt/ttv090

Creating an Ohio Legacy Trust

Steve Leimberg's Asset Protection Planning Newsletter, November 4th, 2014, co-authored with J. Aaron Byrd

Ohio Leaps Forward: The Ohio Legacy Trust Act and Other Reforms

CCH Financial and Estate Planning, CCH 12-2013, Vol. 3, Report No. 308 at 33,811, co-authored with D. Bowen Loeffler and John Sullivan III

Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Vol. 23, No. 6, July/August 2013, co-authored with Brian C. Layman.

Journal of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners, June 2013 by Michael J. Stegman.

Bloomberg Law Reports - Immigration, Vol. 4, No. 11, February 2011, co-authoered with Douglas J. Halpert.

Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Sep./Oct. 2009 by Michael J. Stegman.

Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Jan./Feb. 2009 by Michael J. Stegman.

Elective Community Property in Ohio: Has its Time Come?

Probate Law Journal of Ohio of Ohio Vol. 24, No. 6, July/August 2014, co-authors Michael J. Stegman and Keith D. Meyer