monty donohew

Personal Introduction

Monty received his Juris Doctorate from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri, where he served on the Washington University Law Quarterly, Washington University’s most prestigious law review. As an incoming first year law student, Monty was the subject of a feature article in the Washington University School of Law Magazine, profiling his academic and communication experience. Monty has been admitted to practice in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, and currently practices in Ohio and Missouri. Monty is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He is a member of several local and state bar associations. Monty is a member of the National Aging in Place Council, and the National Care Planning Council which seeks to promote national planning for long-term and disability care. He is also a member of the ARCH National Respite Network, a non-profit organization supporting a national effort to make respite and crisis care available for all families caring for the elderly, among others. Monty is a state liaison for the National Healthcare Decisions Day Initiative (NHDD), a collaborative effort of national, state and community organizations committed to ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions. Monty, and his wife, Christine, are ambassadors for LifeBanc, working to increase awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation. In 2014, Monty received an award from Martindale-Hubbell®, the attorney peer review rating service, for his Fifteenth Anniversary of receiving from Martindale-Hubbell® a Peer Review Rating, representing a Very High Rating in Legal Ability and Ethical Standards. In 2010, Monty was presented a “Doing the Most Good,” Award from the Northeast Ohio Division of the Salvation Army, “for supporting others in the creation of an unwavering legacy.” He received his B.A. in political science from Eastern Illinois University, where he attended on a full academic scholarship. Monty was an intercollegiate debater, and received numerous individual and team awards, including placing second with his partner, Jan Toler, at “Novice Nationals,” a national tournament for freshmen debaters, and qualifying three times for the National Debate Tournament (NDT), once with partner Karen Shelton, once with partner Kelly Seibert, and once with partner Jeff LaFave. While at Eastern Illinois, Monty was an award winner in the annual social sciences writing competition, and received a coveted appointment to the Student Legal Services Board, after serving as a student legal intern. Monty graduated from Tallmadge High School in Summit County, Ohio, where he participated in speech and debate, and swing choir. He qualified for the National Forensic League (now the National Speech and Debate Association) National Tournament in both Student Congress, and Two-man Debate, the latter with partner Richard Dagnall. Monty, his wife, Christine, and their three children reside in North Canton, Ohio. His daughter, Leah, is a police officer, and their sons Joshua, and Jeremy are still in school. Monty is widely published and a frequent speaker, conducting workshops and classes for both lay persons and professionals. He has conducted “in-house” estate planning classes for several insurance agencies, brokers, senior service organizations, and faith-based and public service groups. Monty has been repeatedly selected by the National Business Institute (NBI) to present materials and topics for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) to lawyers and paralegals. Monty has presented, and/or contributed materials for the following CLE programs: “Foundations of Estate Administration Defined,” “Preparing to Begin the Administration Process,” and “Considerations for Collecting the Assets, Preparing the Inventory and Handling Claims Against the Estate,” Estate Administration Procedures: Why Each Step Is Important, NBI (2018); Drafting IRA Trusts, NBI (2016); Estate Planning for Farmers and Ranchers, NBI (2014) “Understanding Long-Term Care Options,” Ohio Estate, Financial and Health Care Planning for Elder Clients,” NBI (2003); “Creating Asset Protection Tools,” Paralegals, Planning, and the Mature Client in Ohio, NBI(2002); “Drafting Revocable Living Trusts,” Estate Planning for Paralegals, NBI (2001); Monty’s most enduring published works are found as articles for the Aging-in-Place Planning and Elderlaw Blog. There one can find a wide variety of articles relating to aging in place, estate planning, use of trusts, long term care, institutional care, Medicare, and Medicaid. Monty has published or contributed to published articles and outlines regarding long term care planning, retirement planning, non-qualified annuities, life insurance, reverse mortgages, drafting trusts, IRA trusts, and the use of long term care insurance and modified endowment contracts in an estate plan. One such publication, “Understanding Long Term Care Options,” assists professional advisers in considering the bewildering array of issues confronting the elderly and their care givers when selecting from long-term care alternatives.