Blog & Resources

Trusts are becoming an ever more common part of our lives. You are not atypical any longer if you can talk about your Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts holding large life insurance policy on your life, or how you set up an Education Trusts to hold money earmarked for the education of generations of your family. But typically, the most likely trust that you would have is the Revocable Living Trust.

No matter what trust you form, there are three components. A Grantor who formed the trust, a Trustee who holds the asset, and the Beneficiary for whom the asset is held. In a Revocable Living Trust, the Grantor, Trustee and Beneficiary are all the same person. You form the trust, you transfer your assets to the trust and you hold them for your own benefit. For discussion about why you would form a Revocable Living Trust, please read my article Is a Revocable Living Trust Right for Me?.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese found itself with serious financial problems. An outside, third-party company offered them a large sum of money to lease out thirteen cemeteries, some of which had unused space. Some of these cemeteries had been under the trust and care of the Archdiocese for over 100 years, and all had previously been exclusively Catholic.

Would entering lucrative maintenance, management and operating agreements with a non-Catholic, third party organization constitute a diversion of property from the purposes, uses and trusts to which these cemeteries had been lawfully dedicated? How do you notify the interested parties in this case? Is the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court even the correct venue for this matter?

It was not long ago when the definition of a family, and to whom a court would allow visitation to minor children, was simple; biological mother and biological father. Then times changed.

If you are reading this article, it is possible that by the time your issue appears before a magistrate or judge the rules in your county will have changed from what they are today. The rules, like the definition of family, are changing.

Reading the facts and the decision in Arrington v. Thrash , from the Mississippi Court of Appeals allow you to see the law change before your eyes. The court ruled that the facts and circumstances in that case justified an award of grandparent visitation comparable to that which would have been given to a noncustodial parent. The court reasoned that this decision was in the best interest of the minor child.

In estate planning, “my estate” can mean different things. Your probate estate includes all your assets that will pass through your will at your death, while your taxable estate includes all your assets that will be taxed at your death. Many assets are included in your taxable estate, but not your probate estate, such as assets in your revocable living trust, your IRAs, assets held jointly with a right of survivorship and all of your payable on death accounts.

The Montgomery County Register of Wills cannot hold or file your Will until after you have died. Your executor will go to the Register’s office in Norristown with the original Will, an original death certificate, an ID and a check. After verifying all is in order, the Register will then file the Will. There is no Pennsylvania procedure to hold Wills of the living.

If you are like most Philadelphians, you are provided the option of participating in a qualified plan program, such as a 401k, 503(b) or TIAA-CREF program. Otherwise, you may have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or a Roth-IRA that you have formed and funded yourself. These plans are designed to hold assets tax deferred and earmarked for retirement but, with the exception of a ROTH-IRA, when the funds are removed, the deferred income taxes come due.

In Philadelphia, probate refers to a process supervised by the Philadelphia Register of Wills and the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court for transferring a deceased Philadelphian’s probate estate in accordance with the terms of the deceased’s will, or if there is no will, in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Intestate Succession.

The Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax is levied against every penny of a Pennsylvania Probate Estate, so no matter how small the estate the executor will likely have to file a Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return.

If you are reading this Article, someone has likely told you that you need or should have a “Revocable Trust” or a “Living Trust”. In fact, you might have been told a horror story about what will happen if you do not have a Living Trust. You also might have attended a seminar where you were told that a Living Trust is a cure-all, and that for a certain dollar amount someone will draft a Revocable Living Trust for you and give it to you in a handsome, faux leather binder.

Is a Revocable Living Trust Right for you? Let me first give you some quick thoughts, then debunk some Revocable Living Trust myths and half truths. Finally, lets talk about the good things a Revocable Living Trust can do so you can deduce if the cost of setting up a Revocable Living Trust makes sense for you.

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.