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:
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.
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 investments here. He works with professionals in foreign jurisdictions to develop plans that respect both countries’ laws. Michael is familiar with the international treaties that pertain to practice in this area.
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 international estate plans.
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”).
New York University School of Law, J.D., 1983
University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1980, magna cum laude
The Best Lawyers in America®: Trusts and Estates Law, 2014-2025
Phi Beta Kappa (Epsilon of Indiana at the University of Notre Dame)
Martindale-Hubbell rated AV – Preeminent, with judicial endorsement
Ohio Super Lawyers®
American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), International Estate Planning Committee and Business Planning Committee
The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law
STEP
Ohio State Bar Association
Cincinnati Estate Planning Council
Kentucky Bar Association
American Sign Museum, Cincinnati, OH, Board of Trustees (Chair, 2021-2023)
Presenter, “The U.S. Exit Tax” as part of “Inbound Planning,” ALI-CLE International Trust and Tax Planning Institute, December 2020
Presenter, U.S. – Germany Estate, Gift and Inheritance Tax Treaty, International Estate Planning Committee of ACTEC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 2019
Presenter, The Private International Law Concerning the Applicability of Matrimonial Property Regimes, STEP Germany Conference, Frankfurt, Germany, February 2019
Presenter, 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
Presenter, “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
Presenter, Trust Assets In Divorce Actions: How to Protect Against a Beneficiary’s Prospective Ex, The Ohio State Bar Association Family Law Institute, March 2018
Tax Planning Issues for U.S. Expatriation, Strafford Publications webinar, June 2017
Presenter, Trust Assets In Divorce Actions: How to Protect Against a Beneficiary’s Prospective Ex, ACTEC Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona, March 2017
Presenter, Trust Assets In Divorce Actions: How to Protect Against a Beneficiary’s Prospective Ex, The Cincinnati Bar Association Advanced Estate Planning Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, March 2017
Presenter, 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
Presenter, Representing the Foreign National in Estate Planning, Ohio ACTEC Conference, Columbus, Ohio, April 2016
Presenter, Integrating Asset Protection into your Estate Planning Institute, Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute, South Bend, Indiana, September, 2015
Presenter, The European Union Succession Regulation: a U.S. Perspective, STEP Germany Conference, Stuttgart, February 2015
Presenter, The Ohio Legacy Trust Act, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law, Domestic Asset Protection Trust Planning: Jurisdiction Selection Series, October 2014
Presenter, Domestic Asset Protection Trusts: Who’s on First? And How You Know When You’re Even in the Ball Park, University of Kentucky College of Law 41st Annual Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute, Lexington, Kentucky, July 2014
Presenter, Ohio’s Revised Dynasty Trust Statute: Closing (and Springing) the Delaware Tax Trap and The Legacy Trust as a Vehicle for Advanced Estate Planning, First Annual Asset Protection & Legacy Trust Institute, April, 2013
Presenter, Money Laundering and the Unsuspecting Professional: Wising Up to the FATF, International Estate Planning Institute, New York State Bar Association and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, New York, March, 2013
Presenter, “Matrimonial Property Regimes in a Cross-Border Context: Who Owns What (and When),” New York State Bar Association International Section Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2012
Presenter, “What Clients Want: Asset Protection for Themselves and their Heirs; Advising on Asset Protection Trusts,” Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute in South Bend, Indiana, September of 2012
Presenter, “Community Property for Separate Property Lawyers,” Estate Planning Conference on Wealth Transfer, Columbus, Ohio, June 2012
Presenter, “ Matrimonial Property Regimes & Cross-Border Recognition,” International Estate Planning Committee of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Coronado, California, October 2011
Presenter, Marital Property Regimes and Conflict-of-Laws, Ohio fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2011
Presenter, The Expatriation Trust, Delaware Trust Conference, Wilmington, Delaware, December 2010
Author, “The United State Exit Tax,” The Practical Tax Lawyer – ALI CLE, March 2021
Author, “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
Co-Author, “Trust Assets in Divorce: How to Best Protect Against a Beneficiary’s Prospective Ex,” Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Vol. 27, No. 5, May/June 2017
Author, “Advising the Expatriating American: Beware the Exit Tax,” Trust and Trustees, 2015 21 (8):862-867,doi:10.1093/tantt/ttv090
Co-Author, “Creating an Ohio Legacy Trust,” Steve Leimberg’s Asset Protection Planning Newsletter, November 2014
Co-Author, “Elective Community Property in Ohio: Has its Time Come?” robate Law Journal of Ohio of Ohio Vol. 24, No. 6, July/August 2014
Co-Author, “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-Author, “The Legacy Trust as a Vehicle for Advanced Estate Planning,” Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Vol. 23, No. 6, July/August 2013
Author, “Welcome to Ohio: a Premier Trust Jurisdiction,” Journal of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners, June 2013
Author, “Should I Stay or Should I Go: Tax and Immigration Considerations for U.S. Permanent Residents and Citizens,” Bloomberg Law Reports – Immigration, Vol. 4, No. 11, February 2011
Author, “Breaking Up is Harder to Do: the New Alternative Tax Regime on U.S. Expatriates,” Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Sep./Oct. 2009
Author, “The Noncitizen Spouse: Implications for Estate Planning and Administration,” Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Jan./Feb. 2009
February 6, 2024 | Press Releases
Michael J. Stegman has joined Frost Brown Todd’s (FBT) Cincinnati office as a partner in its Tax, ...