Estate Planning Lawyers in Pittsburgh, PA
Estate Planning
Our Pittsburgh attorneys can assist with your estate planning needs. We draft Last Wills, Power of Attorney documents, and Dual-Form Advance Directives comprised of a Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney. We offer estate planning and legal document drafting for existing clients following a divorce, or for new clients who need to create new documents or revise out of date documents.
We offer evening and weekend appointments and can accommodate your schedule or special needs.
For more information call today 412.303.9566. The initial consultation is free.
Estate planning covers a variety of topics including how to use various legal instruments to see that your assets will be conserved through the years up to and after retirement. In addition, this area can involve the drafting of legal documents which set forth your specific wishes with regard to health care treatment options provided to you in the event that you are unable to make decisions for yourself. Also, this area can include drafting other documents that state your desire as to how your wealth will be divided after you are gone. Moreover, you may also create documents which allow family members to assist with your finances and daily living. You may also make documents which allow assets or wealth to be held in a certain manner for your benefit or the benefit of others.
Some of the specific documents which fall under the category of estate planning are: Wills, Living Wills, Health Care Power of Attorney’s, Durable Power of Attorney’s, and Trusts. These documents are explained more fully below.
We also are currently offering an Estate Planning Special which includes a Will, Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney.
Estate Planning Documents
A Will is a writing which sets forth the wishes of a person (“Testator” or “Testatrix”) with regard to the distribution of their assets after their death. A Will is used to ensure that your assets (or “estate”) passes to specific family members (or “heirs”) in a manner chosen by you. In your Will you may dispose of all things that are owned by you at the time of death, including: real property, tangible personal property, investments, and savings. A Will helps to avoid confusion with the distribution of your estate, and can help to avoid certain problems that may arise in the event that you die without a Will (“intestate”).
A Health Care Power of Attorney is a document which lets an individual choose a person (an “Agent”) to make decisions about that individual’s medical care, in accordance with their wishes in the event that the individual is unable to make such decisions.
A Living Will is a document which states what an individual’s wishes are in regard to receiving medical treatment or a specific desire not to have certain treatment in the event that they are unable to make those decisions for themselves. A Living Will is also often referred to as an Advanced Health Care Directive.
A Durable Power of Attorney is a document which allows a person to grant specific powers to another person (an “Agent”) that may include the ability to handle various matters and make decisions on behalf of the principal involving financial, banking, real estate, tax, or legal matters. This document can be “springing” in that it only becomes effective when the principal lacks the competency to make important decisions on their own, or it may be drafted to become effective upon signing.
A Trust is another legal device that may be utilized when planning for the future. There are numerous different types of Trusts that enable the person who creates the Trust, to accomplish any number of goals in transferring wealth to family members. A Trust can be revocable or irrevocable, and can have various safeguards built into them. A Trust may also enable conveying property or assets to those persons who would typically be unable to receive such gifts for reasons of minority (children under 18) or mental incapacity.
For more information about any of the above-mentioned documents, including the requirements to make them, whether they need to be witnessed or notarized, and what is most appropriate for your individual circumstances, call us today at: 412.303.9566.