Ohio probate judges will now have updated bench cards to help them navigate legal issues that come before them.

The bench cards serve as a quick legal reference to support not just judges, but also magistrates, to reflect changes in the law. The original bench cards were distributed in 2014 to cover topics such as estate, adoption, and guardianship law.

The Ohio Supreme Court’s Children and Families Section is distributing the cards to judges statewide.

Besides the updated bench cards, a workgroup of judges, magistrates and court administrators released new bench cards to address:

• Adult Protective Services
• Concealment of Assets
• Insolvent Estates
• Voluntary Admission of Mentally Ill Persons

Members of the workgroup who developed the bench cards are Montgomery County Chief Magistrate David M. Farmer, former Licking County Probate Court Chief Deputy Clerk Bill Fisher, Ottawa County Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Kathleen L. Giesler, Cuyahoga County Probate Court Administrator/Magistrate John R. Homolak, Samuel A. Peppers III of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Hamilton County Probate Court Chief Magistrate Paul D. Rattermann, Shelby County Probate Court Chief Deputy Clerk  Tricia Rosengarten, Cuyahoga County Probate Magistrate Roseanne Hilow, Butler County Probate Court Magistrate Patricia Hider, and Pickaway County Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Jan Long.