Blog & Resources

Most states require that at the time you sign your will you have two witnesses who sign under your name. These are known as “Subscribing Witnesses”. Pennsylvania is an exception to this common practice. In Pennsylvania, you need no Subscribing Witness when you sign your will.

Simply put, a will is a writing that specifies the beneficiaries who are to inherit the testator’s assets, names a representative to administer the estate and who is responsible for distributing the assets to the beneficiaries. To be valid a testator you must have legal capacity when the will is written and follow state law.

Every journey starts with the first step, and your estate planning begins with assembling information and answering questions. Your estate plan’s complexity will depend on many factors, including your family and its unique set of circumstances, the type and value of your assets, your overall financial plan and your ideas on how you would like to divide what remains of your estate at your death.

If you are a resident of Gloucester County, New Jersey, and have executed a valid New Jersey will, that will dictates the distribution of the property you owned at your death. The will is not limited to your property within Gloucester County, and will determine who receives your property no matter where it is located throughout the world.

The short answer is everyone. The plan might be simple or complex, but without a plan you might not address avoidable family conflicts and tax problems.

Estate planning is the process of developing a plan for the transfer of your property at your death. An estate plan can be simple or complex. The need for simplicity or a more complex plan will depend on your own assets, your family dynamics, the possible problems faced by your heirs, tax issues and legal limitations.

While it is not a requirement, naming alternative beneficiaries in your will and in your beneficiary designation forms is a good idea.

Estate planning is the process of making a plan from today until your death, and if done correctly, makes plans that can benefit your heirs long after your death.

Many people mistakenly believe estate planning only involves having a will drafted by a Philadelphia estate planning attorney. While having a will is an important step, a will by itself might not be able to address all of your unique tax and family issues. A proper estate plan involves an examination of your family, any other persons or charities that you may want to benefit at your death, as well as all your assets.

If you have life insurance, you likely have determined that if you die there is a financial need that must be addressed by your absence. Because of this determination, you pay a small amount each year in premium to the life insurance company for the guarantee that if you die a larger sum of money will be delivered to the named beneficiary.

Crafting an estate plan for a client means listening to what the client wants, explaining options to the client and then drafting a plan to meet the option selected. At times, a client’s circumstances require imaginative ideas. Here are some examples of imaginative estate planning that Klenk Law has utilized recently.

1. Protectors:
It remains a mystery to me why more estate planning attorneys do not use Protectors. A Protector is a person or persons you appoint to oversee a trustee with the power to fire and replace the trustee without the need of an attorney or a court hearing. No court hearing or attorney is necessary? Perhaps that is the reason why estate planning lawyers don’t use them? I use them in almost every trust. Even the most trusted person or bank can have problems, and if these problems negatively affect the trust, the Protector can “protect” the beneficiary without months of litigation.