Family-Owned Law Firm · Parma, Ohio
Experienced Wills & Trusts Attorneys Parma OH
Mizak & Pacetti is a family-owned Parma law firm with more than 40 years of combined legal experience, and its wills and trust attorneys handle estate planning for Parma, Ohio small business owners, entrepreneurs, and LLC operators. The firm's attorneys live in the community and work directly with you, with no handoffs to outside staff. From a first will to a full succession plan for your business, Parma owners get clear legal guidance and full-service coverage under one roof.
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Family-Owned. Parma-Based.
Mizak & Pacetti is a family-owned firm where attorneys live in the Parma community. Not a downtown Cleveland firm running ads in the suburbs.
No Handoffs
Parma business owners work with experienced legal professionals at the firm from the first call through final resolution. No intake staff at any stage.
Built for Parma Small Business
Practical legal guidance for LLCs, sole proprietors, and growing businesses across Ohio. The same kind of straight talk Parma business owners rely on.
Mizak & Pacetti is a family-owned Parma law firm with more than 40 years of combined legal experience, and its wills and trust attorneys handle estate planning for Parma, Ohio small business owners, entrepreneurs, and LLC operators. The firm's attorneys live in the community and work directly with you, with no handoffs to outside staff. From a first will to a full succession plan for your business, Parma owners get clear legal guidance and full-service coverage under one roof.
Running a business is a full-time job on its own. Most Parma small business owners never get around to asking the harder question: what happens to the business, the payroll, and the bank accounts if something happens to you tomorrow. A will written for an employee with a paycheck does not cover an LLC with contracts, vendors, and maybe a business partner. A wills and trust attorney who understands both Ohio estate law and how a small business actually runs can close that gap before it becomes a problem for your family or your team.
Wills and trusts in Parma, Ohio for a business owner cover more ground than a standard personal estate plan. Mizak & Pacetti, located on Broadview Road in Parma, helps local entrepreneurs put a will, a trust, or both in place. The firm lines that plan up with the operating agreement, buy-sell terms, or partnership structure already governing the business. The firm explains what happens to your LLC, your accounts, and your family under Ohio law, and builds a plan that fits how your shop, practice, or company actually operates.
What Happens to Your Parma LLC If Something Happens to You
Mizak & Pacetti helps Parma business owners answer the question most put off: who runs the business, signs the checks, and keeps clients served if the owner dies or becomes unable to work. Without a will or a succession plan naming a successor, an LLC can sit in limbo while family members and the Cuyahoga County Probate Court sort out who has authority to act. That gap can cost a Parma business its vendors, its lease, or its staff in a matter of weeks.
A wills and trust attorney at Mizak & Pacetti reviews your business structure and drafts a will or trust that names who steps in, whether that is a spouse, an adult child, a business partner, or a hired manager. The plan may also address what happens to your ownership stake, whether the business gets sold, passed to family, or wound down. Parma owners work with experienced legal professionals at the firm, not an intake team that has never looked at an LLC operating agreement.
"Parma owners work with experienced legal professionals at the firm, not an intake team that has never looked at an LLC operating agreement."
Jason B. Mizak
"Business owners in Parma and the surrounding areas get a plan built around the way their company actually holds assets, not a generic template."
Vincent I. Pacetti
Keeping Your Parma Business Assets Out of Probate Delays
A wills and trust attorney at Mizak & Pacetti sets up trusts for Parma business owners. The goal is keeping business accounts, equipment, and ownership interests out of a long probate process. Probate in Ohio can take months, and a business does not stop needing cash, inventory, or a signature on a lease while a court sorts out an estate. For a business owner, that delay can mean missed payroll or a lease default while heirs wait on the Cuyahoga County Probate Court.
A revocable living trust may let a Parma business owner transfer LLC membership interests, equipment, and business bank accounts directly to a successor without a probate filing. Mizak & Pacetti reviews what parts of your business should sit inside a trust and what should stay outside it, depending on how your company is structured and what your operating agreement allows. Business owners in Parma and the surrounding areas get a plan built around the way their company actually holds assets, not a generic template.
Powers of Attorney for Parma Business Decisions
A wills and trust attorney at Mizak & Pacetti drafts powers of attorney for Parma business owners. This document names someone authorized to make business and financial decisions if the owner becomes sick, injured, or otherwise unable to run the company. A will only takes effect after death. A Parma entrepreneur who ends up in the hospital for even a few weeks may find that no one has the legal authority to sign a contract, pay a vendor, or access the business bank account.
A durable power of attorney drafted by Mizak & Pacetti can name a trusted person, often a spouse or business partner, to step in and keep the business running while the owner recovers. The firm also prepares healthcare directives so medical decisions are handled by someone the Parma business owner has actually chosen. These documents work alongside your will and trust, and Attorney Jason Mizak walks Parma owners through how each piece fits with the others depending on their situation.
"The firm checks whether your operating agreement includes buy-sell provisions, right-of-first-refusal clauses, or restrictions on who can inherit a membership interest."
Jason B. Mizak
Coordinating Your Will With Your Parma Business Operating Agreement
Mizak & Pacetti reviews how a Parma business owner's will lines up with an existing LLC operating agreement or partnership agreement. The two documents can conflict with each other if they are drafted separately. An operating agreement may already say what happens to a member's share if that member dies. A will that ignores those terms can create a dispute between family members and surviving business partners. This comes up often for Parma entrepreneurs who set up their LLC through an online service and wrote a will years earlier through a different source.
The firm checks whether your operating agreement includes buy-sell provisions, right-of-first-refusal clauses, or restrictions on who can inherit a membership interest. Mizak & Pacetti drafts your will and trust to work with those terms instead of against them. Mizak & Pacetti can also help Parma business partners put a buy-sell agreement in place if one does not already exist, so everyone knows in advance what happens if an owner passes away or wants out. Depending on how your business is set up, this coordination may prevent a costly dispute down the road.
Living Wills and Healthcare Decisions for Parma Business Owners
A living will drafted by Mizak & Pacetti sets out a Parma business owner's medical and end-of-life care preferences in writing, separate from the financial power of attorney that covers business decisions. A durable power of attorney names who signs contracts and pays vendors if you cannot work. A living will tells your family and doctors what kind of treatment you do or do not want, so those decisions are not left to guesswork during a medical crisis.
Mizak & Pacetti drafts living wills for Parma business owners alongside a will, trust, and power of attorney, so the full set of documents works together instead of leaving gaps. Business owners in Parma often assume a power of attorney covers medical decisions too, and it typically does not under Ohio law without a separate document. A direct conversation with the firm can confirm which documents your specific situation actually needs.
"The firm reviews both pieces together so a Parma family has one coordinated plan instead of two that were never compared."
Vincent I. Pacetti
Guardianship and Conservatorship for Parma Families and Business Owners
Mizak & Pacetti helps Parma business owners name a guardian for minor children and arrange conservatorship for a family member who can no longer manage personal or financial affairs. A business owner with young children may not have named a guardian who would step in if both parents became unable to care for them, and that gap can leave the decision to a court rather than the family. The same planning gap can affect an aging parent or a family member with a disability who depends on the business owner for support.
Mizak & Pacetti works with Parma families to designate a guardian for minor children inside a will, and to set up a conservatorship when a loved one needs someone with legal authority to manage their affairs. For a business owner, this planning often runs alongside succession planning, since the person who steps in to run the business and the person who cares for the children are not always the same family member. The firm reviews both pieces together so a Parma family has one coordinated plan instead of two that were never compared.
Protecting Business and Personal Assets in Parma, Ohio
Mizak & Pacetti helps Parma business owners protect both business and personal assets from risks like lawsuits and creditor claims through asset protection planning. Many Parma entrepreneurs assume that forming an LLC alone shields their personal assets in every situation, and that is not always the case, depending on how the business is structured, financed, and insured. Asset protection planning looks at the gaps an LLC does not close on its own.
Mizak & Pacetti reviews how a Parma business owner's personal and business assets are titled and structured, and may recommend adjustments such as updated insurance coverage, a revised entity structure, or a trust that holds certain assets outside the reach of a future claim. This work often overlaps with the will and trust planning already covering succession and probate, so Mizak & Pacetti builds the asset protection piece into the same overall plan rather than treating it as a separate project.
"Having one trusted Parma firm for your LLC and your family's estate plan saves time and keeps everything in one place."
Jason B. Mizak
One Local Parma Firm for Your Business and Personal Legal Needs
Mizak & Pacetti is a full-service Parma law firm, so the same local team that drafts your will and trust can also handle the rest of your business and personal legal needs. Most Parma entrepreneurs do not separate their business problems from their family problems, and they should not need a different firm for each one.
Beyond wills and trusts, Mizak & Pacetti handles Business Law, Cybersecurity, Criminal and Traffic defense, Divorce and Custody, Personal Injury, and Probate and Estate matters for Parma families and owners. The firm also represents clients in trial and probate litigation. That includes contested wills, trust disputes, and will contests between heirs or business partners when a disagreement lands in the Cuyahoga County Probate Court. Attorney Jason Mizak, the founding partner, handles estate planning, business formation, contracts, and probate. Attorney Vincent Pacetti, a former Cuyahoga County prosecutor, handles criminal, traffic, divorce, and personal injury matters. Attorney James Kashien covers criminal defense, bankruptcy, and consumer law, and Attorney Tony J. Miranda handles cybersecurity and data privacy for businesses that store customer data. Having one trusted Parma firm for your LLC and your family's estate plan saves time and keeps everything in one place.
Business Owners We Help in Parma and the Surrounding Areas
The wills and trust attorneys at Mizak & Pacetti work with many kinds of Parma small business owners and entrepreneurs who need a plan that accounts for their company, including:
If you own a business in Parma and have not looked at your will since you formed the LLC, your estate plan and your business structure may no longer match.
Why Mizak & Pacetti?
Mizak & Pacetti is a family-owned law firm where the attorneys don't just work in Parma, they live here. When people ask who the best lawyer in Parma is, they are usually looking for someone local, accessible, and trustworthy. Someone who returns calls, explains the process clearly, and stays involved from start to finish.
We provide hands-on legal representation for personal injury, criminal and traffic defense, divorce and custody, estate planning, business law, and cybersecurity and data protection matters. Our approach is practical, direct, and client-focused, not volume-driven or transactional.
Most of our work comes from referrals, not advertising. That trust has been earned case by case and neighbor by neighbor, and it's why so many Parma residents and small business owners turn to Mizak & Pacetti when the stakes are real.
Why Parma Residents Choose Us
18+
Years experience — Jason B. Mizak
100+
Trials — Vincent Pacetti, former prosecutor
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I own a small LLC in Parma. What actually happens to my business if I pass away without a will?
A: This is one of the most common worries Mizak & Pacetti hears from Parma business owners, and it is worth losing some sleep over if you have not planned for it. Without a will, Ohio's intestacy laws decide who inherits your ownership interest. That process runs through the Cuyahoga County Probate Court, and it can leave a business without anyone authorized to sign checks or pay vendors for weeks. A wills and trust attorney at Mizak & Pacetti can draft a plan that names a successor and keeps your Parma business running without that gap.
Q: My business is brand new. Do I really need a will and trust now, or can it wait a few years?
A: A lot of new Parma entrepreneurs ask this, usually right after they finish setting up their LLC through the Ohio Secretary of State. The honest answer is that waiting creates risk from day one, since an accident or sudden illness does not check whether your business is one year old or twenty. Mizak & Pacetti, right on Broadview Road in Parma, can put a basic will and power of attorney in place quickly for a new Parma business, then build out a fuller trust and succession plan as the company grows.
Q: I have a business partner. How does my will work with our operating agreement?
A: This trips up a lot of Parma business owners who set up an LLC through an online service and never checked whether their will matches it. Many operating agreements already spell out what happens to a member's share if that member dies. A will written without reviewing those terms can create a conflict between your family and your surviving partner. Mizak & Pacetti reviews your operating agreement alongside your will so the two documents work together instead of contradicting each other.
Q: Should I set up a trust so my kids inherit the business someday?
A: Many Parma owners want the business to stay in the family, and a trust can be built around that goal. Mizak & Pacetti can draft a trust that transfers ownership to a child over time, sets conditions on when they take full control, or names a manager to run things until they are ready. The right structure depends on your children's age, involvement in the business, and your own timeline for stepping back, so this is worth a direct conversation.
Q: Can a trust actually keep my business out of probate here in Ohio?
A: In many cases, yes, and this is a big reason Parma business owners set one up. A revocable living trust can hold your LLC membership interest, equipment, or business accounts, so those assets pass to a successor without going through the Cuyahoga County Probate Court. Mizak & Pacetti reviews your specific business structure to figure out which assets make sense to place in a trust, since the right setup depends on how your Parma company is organized.
Q: Do I need a power of attorney for my business, or does my will cover that?
A: A will only takes effect after death, so it will not help if you are hospitalized or unable to work for a stretch of time. A durable power of attorney lets someone you trust, often a spouse or business partner, sign contracts and access accounts for your Parma business while you recover. Mizak & Pacetti drafts both documents together so your business has coverage whether the situation is temporary or permanent.
Q: My spouse and I are getting divorced and I own the business. Does that change my estate plan?
A: Yes, and this is a conversation Mizak & Pacetti has with Parma business owners fairly often during a divorce and custody matter. A will or trust written while married often names a spouse as the successor or beneficiary, and that designation typically needs to be updated once a divorce is filed or finalized. Mizak & Pacetti handles both divorce and custody matters and estate planning, so a Parma business owner can update a will and address the business at the same time.
Q: How often should I update my will and trust as my Parma business grows?
A: A good rule of thumb is to look at your estate plan any time your business changes in a real way, such as bringing on a partner, taking on debt, or expanding to a new location. Mizak & Pacetti recommends Parma business owners review their will and trust every few years even without a major change, since Ohio law and your company's value can shift over time. An outdated plan that no longer matches your business can cause more problems than having no plan at all.
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"I have to make sure I let EVERYONE know about an amazing attorney!! God sent us Vince Pacetti and he worked many long hours, many long days, many years and didn't give up. He goes above and beyond for his clients, he pushes for justice, he pushes to make sure the does everything possible for you. He is the best attorney I have ever EVER EVER came across!! So if you are in need of an attorney please call him right away, don't call anyone else!!"
"I cannot recommend Blake Benson enough. He was extremely professional, knowledgeable, and was committed to providing me excellent support and guidance. He was prepared and thorough during the entire process. I will absolutely contact him in the future if I need a stand-up, hard-working attorney. Thank you Blake!"
"Vince Pacetti was very reliable, honest, upfront and knowledgeable. Yes he is busy, but always made sure I got the answers I needed and was very patient. Highly recommend him and Jason for your legal needs."
"Mr. Pacetti just represented my son looking at a 17yr. sentence End result was he got 2yrs. GREAT REPRESENTATION, VERY PROFESSIONAL, AFFORDABLE.. Great lawyer. Highly Recommended!!! Couldn't be more blessed for his services.. Mr. Pacetti is the way to go.. OUTSTANDING JOB!!! Thank you again."
A family-owned law firm serving Parma and the surrounding communities. Experienced legal professionals handling cases for individuals, families, and businesses across Ohio.
5241 Broadview Road, Suite 400 · Parma, OH 44134
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