VOTE NO ON RICE
Don't think twice, just don't vote Rice!
When the time comes to elect a new Probate Judge for Montgomery County,
Ohio in November 2026, we suggest that you vote for anyone other than
Cassandra Rice.
She is not objective and will always rule in favor of executors and trustees because of her naivety.
If your a beneficiary, then you had better be able to afford a good and expensive lawyer to fight for your rights.
COOPERATIVENESS? Nope
In our case, Cassandra Rice represents the Executor/Trustee (yes,
both), and she has eluded requests by the beneficiaries to get an
up-to-date fiduciary report from the Trustee by stating that the law
only requires the Trustee to give an annual report.
Is there something to hide? Clearly Yes!
Just after the decedent passed, the Successor Trustee locked down the
estate and did not allow any of the beneficiaries access to the
property. The Successor Trustee specifically stated that he would deny
any request for access to the property and threatened the use of local
police to enforce that restriction.
Did Ms. Rice as counsel have knowledge
of what the Executor/Trustee has done and is still doing? Why
not, she is clearly involved in all of the filings with the Probate
Court.
Here are the events that happened during the counsel of Cassandra Rice representing the Executor/Trustee:
1. The Executor/Trustee broke his
written promise to the Probate Court by allowing estate assets to be
removed from the estate and transported out of the State of Ohio during
administration of the estate.
Fiduciary Acceptance:
4. Assuring that all estate assets remain in the state of Ohio during administration of this estate.
The Executor/Trustee violated the trust placed in him by the Probate
Court when the Executor/Trustee allowed estate assets to be
removed from the property and transported out of the State of Ohio on
several occasions during the adminstration of the estate. This kind of
thing does not just happen by accident, it was clearly intentional and
appears that the Executor/Trustee was stealing or giving away estate
assets that rightfully belong to all of the beneficiaries of the estate.
2. The Executor/Trustee did not report
almost $4,000 in cash as part of the estate assets to the Probate Court
that the Trustee took out of a locked safe on the estate just after the
decedent death.
Inventory and Appraisal:
Intangible personal property = blank ($0.00)
By modern standards, $4k in cash is quite a bit of money. So how is it that it went unreported by the Executor/Trustee.
3. The Executor/Trustee requested an
extension of time from the Probate Court to file the required
inventory. However, when the inventory was filed it only stated the
standard $500 in personal assets and the current county auditor's value
for the real property.
Inventory and Appraisal:
Tangible personal property = $500.00
Real property = $500,000.00
The basic $500 is a given amount known to every probate lawyer in Ohio,
and the property's valuation is readily available online from the
county auditor's office. It would take less than 2-hours to
obtain this information, however the filing states that the
Executor/Trustee is awaiting financial information. So, in the
4-months and 6-days that have passed since the decedent's death, no
banking or other information has been obtained. The filing
indicates that in just another 29-days this information is expected,
yet the final report shows nothing additional.
The personal property of the decedent included a fully furnished
household including antique furniture and artwork along with expensive
collectibles. By modern standards the estimated value of personal
belongings in a fully furnished home are between 5% and 10% of the
home's value. The would be somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000
just for the furnishings. Add into that the value of the antique
furniture, artwork, and collectibles estimated to be around $30,000 or
more.
It's strange that an appraiser was not hired to conduct a proper
appraisal of the home and personal belongings. Perhaps it is
because the appraisal would have been roughly $55,000 or more.
That is quite a stretch from the measly $500 filed with the Probate
Court by the Executor/Trustee.
NAIVITY or ATTORNEY-CLIENT Privilege
Regarding Counsel Cassandra Rice overlooking all of the wrongs done by the Executor/Trustee:
Was she just turning a blind eye to the injustice against the other beneficiaries?
Does she plea ignorance of the facts going on right under her nose?
Perhaps she just doesn't care about the wrongs commited by her client?
DO NOT Vote for Cassandra Rice this November 2026 for Probate Judge in Montgomery County Ohio.