Estates & Wills

Our estate planning, probate, and estate administration practice focuses on helping clients achieve comprehensive estate planning goals—from the most basic to the most sophisticated level of tax-saving strategies. Ignoring the issue of estate planning will result in an estate being distributed by the probate court in the manner imposed by law. For clients who want to direct the passing of assets at death, name an executor, and keep taxes and expenses to a minimum, estate planning with an experienced attorney is crucial.

Basic Estate Planning

Our firm can assist clients in planning for future contingencies, such as death or incapacity, by preparing the necessary documents. For an individual with a moderate estate, estate planning might involve these issues:

• Wills
• Outright marital gifts
• Outright gifts to children
• Trusts for children
• Ancillary documents
• Durable or general powers of attorney
• Medical powers of attorney
• Living wills (advance medical directives)
• Determining a guardian for children

Although there are no laws that require the assistance of an attorney in estate planning, there are good reasons to hire an attorney with estate planning experience. A generic-form will or trust has probably not taken into account the legal requirements of Pennsylvania. It also will not take into account the individual wishes of the testator. In the long run, a “do-it-yourself” will or trust may be more expensive than consulting a lawyer. For example, for a trust to be effective it takes more than simple drafting: the assets must be transferred into it. Without proper legal assistance, most, if not all of the benefits of using a trust can be lost.

Intermediate Estate and Tax Planning

Depending on the size of an estate, an individual may need more than the basic estate planning tools to achieve his or her goals. Our attorneys help clients determine which instruments will achieve the greatest tax benefit and leave the estate in the intended hands. Intermediate estate and tax planning may involve any of the following:

• Pour-over wills
• Revocable management trusts (living trusts)
• Marital deduction trusts
• Qualified domestic trust (non-U.S. citizens)
• Credit shelter trusts
• Disclaimer trusts
• Life insurance planning
• Beneficiary designations
• Irrevocable life insurance trusts
• Split dollar life insurance
• Crummey trusts
• Gifts to minors
• Education planning
• Disability planning
• Direct gifts for medical and education expenses
• Retirement planning
• Beneficiary designations
• Estate administration
• Probate
• Liquidity and tax payment issues
• Domestic asset protection
• Prenuptial planning
• Tax planning for divorce

Advanced Estate Planning

We have a long history of helping high-net-worth individuals with estate planning that both attains estate planning goals and effectively leverages the annual gift tax exclusion, and credits against gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. We provide counsel and guidance on the necessity of freezing the values of property within an estate by utilizing entities such as closely held businesses, partnerships, and trusts. Advanced estate and tax planning may include the following:

• Gifting Strategies
  • Annual exclusion
  • Lifetime exemption
  • Partition
  • Gift splitting
• Second-Generation Planning
  • Generation-skipping transfer tax and exemption planning
  • Dynasty trust
• Charitable Planning
  • Charitable gifts
  • Charitable remainder trusts
  • Charitable lead trusts
  • Private foundations
  • Public foundations
  • Supporting organizations
• Closely Held Businesses
  • Succession planning
  • Buy-sell agreements
• Estate Freezes
  • Family limited partnerships
  • Limited liability companies
  • Grantor retained annuity trusts
  • Sale to defective trusts
  • Installment sales
  • Private annuities
  • Qualified personal residence trust
• Pre-IPO Planning
  • Qualified stock options
  • Non-qualified stock options
  • Restricted stock

Probate and Estate Administration

In addition to estate planning, we also assist clients with probate and estate administration. Probate is the legal process by which a person’s debts are paid and assets are distributed upon her or his death. Estate administration includes the probate process as well as non-probate transfers of the deceased’s assets. Individual state laws direct the probate court how to distribute the deceased’s estate. State laws and procedures vary greatly, so it is important to consult a firm with expertise in this area of the law to ensure that the deceased’s assets are distributed correctly.

Probate and Estate Litigation

We represent clients when litigation arises from the probate and estate administration process. Family members often find themselves in disagreement over the interpretation of wills or trust documents and the administration and management of estates and trusts. Suits are frequently filed against the personal representative of an estate who is thought to be involved in self-dealing. We regularly handle claims and defend challenges to wills (“will contest”) based on competency, authenticity, or undue influence. We also represent individuals in circumstances where there is no will and disputes arise regarding the appropriate administration of the estate. Our experience in handling difficult probate disputes is evident in our ability to balance the importance of privacy and discretion against the need to resort to the very public nature of court proceedings.