Blog & Resources

If you die without a will in Pennsylvania you are said to die “intestate”. If you die intestate, your probate assets are divided up under the Pennsylvania Intestate Rules. These rules can easily be avoided by writing a will, but if you do not have a will, the Intestacy Rules are in place to clearly state who inherits your probate property in order to avoid conflict.

New Jersey allows you to form a Revocable Living Trust. These trusts can own almost any asset including bank accounts, autos, stocks, gold, and your Atlantic County real estate. While Revocable Trusts can serve many purposes, the primary goal is to avoid probating the will with the Atlantic County Surrogate.

If you die without a will in Pennsylvania you are said to die “intestate”. If you die intestate, your probate assets are divided up under the Pennsylvania Intestate Rules. These rules can easily be avoided by writing a will, but if you do not have a will, the Intestacy Rules are in place to clearly state who inherits your probate property in order to avoid conflict.

If you are a Lehigh County resident with a will, following your death your executor will take your death certificate, the original copy of your will, a checkbook and an ID card to the Lehigh County Register of Wills Office to be sworn in as the executor of your estate.

Being an executor means that this person is a fiduciary with many responsibilities and duties. Selecting the correct person for the job is a vital part of your estate plan.

If you are a Chester County resident with a will, following your death your executor will take your death certificate, the original copy of your will, a checkbook and an ID card to the Chester County Register of Wills Office to be sworn in as the executor of your estate.

Being an executor means that this person is a fiduciary with many responsibilities and duties. Selecting the correct person for the job is a vital part of your estate plan.

If you are a Delaware County resident with a will, following your death your executor will take your death certificate, the original copy of your will, a checkbook and an ID card to the Delaware County Register of Wills Office to be sworn in as the executor of your estate.

Being an executor means that this person is a fiduciary with many responsibilities and duties. Selecting the correct person for the job is a vital part of your estate plan.

After months of picking out wedding cakes, perusing gowns and shopping for flowers, discussing estate planning can feel, to many people, like a doom and gloom conversation. However, having an estate plan to protect and care for your new spouse can not only strengthen your financial situation, it can also help your marriage.

As time passes, starting an estate plan will only become more complicated; children and grandchildren are born, assets change and family dynamics shift. Getting an early start on an estate plan for your new family will lay the groundwork for your future and can be tweaked as your family changes and grows.

While the single lifestyle is usually thought of as carefree when compared to married life, when it comes to estate planning a single person’s decisions and plan may prove more complicated than for a married couple. Whether you have never been married, are divorced or have outlived your partner, estate planning is vitally important to ensure that your wishes are carried out.

If a married person dies without a will, typically all the assets are held jointly so the estate passes directly to the surviving spouse. However, if singles die without a will or other estate planning documents, real estate and bank accounts are typically held only in the single person’s name. If a single person dies without a will, or “intestate”, these assets pass under the Rules of Intestacy.

Often people will ask me if their assets are large enough to justify an estate plan. The simple answer is that if your life never changes, if you never get ill, if your assets never change and if your children’s lives are worry free, you might not need an estate plan. Otherwise, if your life is like the rest of ours, you will benefit form an estate plan. It might not be a complicated plan, but the chances are that even a simple estate plan will provide you great benefits.

A Will is a legal document which:

Specifies the beneficiaries who are to inherit your assets either outright or in trust.
Names a representative (an executor or personal representative) to administer the estate, pay your debts and any taxes and then to be responsible for distributing your assets to the beneficiary or to a trustee.
Nominates a guardian for your minor children.