David M. Frees III Chairman: Trust, Estates, and Wealth Preservation
Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees
David Frees Has Offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester
No one ever thought that this would happen. Congress cannot just let this lapse. They will lose too much tax revenue. It doesn’t make sense.
But, that’s the conclusion of the Wall Street Journal after a review of trust and estate lawyers at a recent gathering. And those of you who are my clients know that for years we have been waiting for Congress to act to fix the deeply flawed estate tax. And, no one ever really believed that congress would let the tax go away. I still don’t believe that they will.
They seem to be totally pralyzed by health care reform. However, they seem to be considering a one year “fix.” Under this plan the law will stay as it is for one more year and then fall back to the old $1 million dollar exemption. But, if they let it lapse, they will probably re-enact it shortly after in 2010 and make it retroactive to the start of the year. Sound unfair or unconstitutional? Read this Wall Street Journal Article on the retroactive estate tax issue.
The bottom line: If the tax disappears, millions of wills will no longer make sense as they are drafted according to formulas linked to the law. If Congress doesn’t act soon call your estate planning lawyer or attorney.
Please leave your questions and comments below.
David M. Frees III, Esquire: wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills and
all related estate planning issues.
Attorney David Frees has offices in Phoenixville, Malvern, and West Chester which serve all
of Chester County, Montgomery County, Deleware County as well as Berks, Bucks and
Lancaster Counties.
Who Will Initiate Probate: Probate is the court adjudicated process that an Executor or Administrator follows in the estate of someone who dies in Pennsylvania (PA). The Executor is a person or trust company named in a will. The Administrator is a person or trust company appointed by the Court where no will exists, Where there is a will that does not name an Executor or where the will names an Executor(s) who refuses or fails to act. Generally, the intestate beneficiaries or their appointees will have the first option to act as Administrator if one of the above circumstances were to arise.
What You Need To Start Probate: The basic requirements are the original will where one exists, original death certificate, Petition for Probate and Estate Information Sheet often prepared by the Attorney/Lawyer for the estate, check for probate fees paid to the Register of Wills, renunciations if necessary and witness affidavits if the will was not notarized.
Once the Executor/Administrator Has Been Appointed: The remainder of the estate administration and probate requirements for PA will have to be followed. Among the requirements will be notice to the beneficiaries, periodic status reports to the court, gathering information for preparation and filing the PA inheritance tax return and federal estatate tax return (where necessary). Obviously each estate is different and the work necessary for completing the estate administration will vary from case to case. We will provide you with follow up postings about the probate process and ways to avoid potential problems and issues once you are appointed as the Executor/Administrator.
by Douglas L. Kaune, Esquire
Estate Planning & Administration, Wills, Trusts, Asset Protection, Elder Law
Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees, P.C.
Phoenixville, Malvern, West Chester PA
Pennsylvania Attorney
dkaune@utbf.com PH: 610-933-8069
Enjoy the fall and this holiday season from
David M. Frees III and your lawyers, friends and team at Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees:
Will and Estate Attorneys: David M. Frees III, Douglas L. Kaune
Paralegals: Tara Walters, Donna Brownback, and Denise Fox
Our law offices are conveniently located in Phoenixville, Malvern and West Chester and serve
all of Chester, Montgomery, Berks, Bucks and Lancaster Counties. 610-933-8069 or 610-240-0750
dfrees@utbf.com
David Frees Phoenixville, Malvern and West Chester Offices
By: David M. Frees III – Trusts, Wills, Estates and Estate Planning
Every long term financial and estate plan deserves your patience and your attention. But, you deserve long term results, greater security and growth of your wealth and the legacy you plan to leave.
We post ideas and information to help here and on our site focused on estte planning, wills, trusts, and estate administration for executors PaEstatePlanners.com.
Steal this six page article right now and talk to your advisers to make sure that you’re taking only the risks that you want to take.
Remember to book mark this page, and to leave your comments, questions, and ideas below by clicking on comments.
David M. Frees III
dfrees@utbf.com
Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees
with offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester
Serving Selected Clients In: Wayne, Malvern, Berwyn, Chester Springs, Exton
and many surrounding communities through out Pennsylvania
As many of you know, the Trust, Estate and Wealth Preservation Section of the firm is a very paper intensive operation. And, as many of you have observed, law offices are notorious for their wasteful use of not only paper but many resources.
Hello. I’m Dave Frees, and I Chair the Trust, Estate and Wealth Preservation Section of Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees with our offices in Phoenixville, Malvern, and West Chester.
At Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees, the firm and our practice section have been “Greening” the firm for many years now. Even when we did not have municipal recycling, for example, partner Doug Kaune was our resident enforcer of recycling glass, aluminum, and newspaper.
For the last five years, we have increasingly sourced recycled paper products and have been actively looking for ways to further reduce our carbon foot print. However, in a recent audit, and after some additional research you have helped us to identify and to detect a number of ways to further improve our efforts to reducing, reuse and recycle whenever appropriate.
So what is a green business, what are we doing and why does it matter to you?
Why Green Businesses Matter and What We Are Doing
Earth Share recently offered the following definition:
A “green” business strives to have a positive impact on the environment and community. It develops and practices business strategies that go beyond regulation and demonstrate commitment to a healthy and sustainable future. A green business adopts principles, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life for its customers and employees.
And that is exactly what we have been doing and what we are about to do even more aggressively.
For example, many clients do not realize, how many pages of paper are used until you sign the final draft of your estate plans. Many plans have over over forty to fifty pages of documentation ( and some plans including asset protection plans, trust plans, and even simple wills containing trusts for protecting your heirs from divorce and lawsuits run to the hundreds of pages of documentation).
And, we have often reviewed two to three drafts of some documents before they are even sent to you for your review and at least one more set will be produced as final copies for execution at your signing appointment. For those of you who have found typos of a misspelled name of “uncle Joe” in your wills, it may not seem like it, but before we are done many plans have used over two hundred pages or more of paper. Most of which is actually shredded and recycled already.
However, we are now conducting a more comprehensive audit of our many practices and procedure, as well as our products and have identified a number of new initiatives including but not limited to the following:
1. We are now sourcing a higher percentage of recycled paper without sacrificing the bright white appearance and acid free content that we currently use for your documents.
2. We are attempting to identify vendors who use and who offer more environmentally friendly products ranging from recycled paper in writing paper, document paper, and coffee cups to tissue, and will shift our purchasing to these “greener” vendors whenever possible without sacrificing our products and services.
3. We will use long lasting and green bulbs in light fixtures whenever possible. Although for the time being, some areas of the office are still lighted in incandescent bulbs for the comfort of our staff who must read in that environment for extended periods.
4. We are currently replacing computers and electrical equipment with more efficient models and are implementing policies of turning these devices to a dormant mode if they have not been used for 10 minuets or more (that rarely happens since we’re working on documents all day long!) and completely off at night so that they do not continue to use power after business hours.
5. We will be selecting and sponsoring educational programs in our community that offer real world education and actionable information to young people about how they can positively impact their local and global environment.
6. We are creating an employee green team and will be taking these initiatives to the entire firm.
7. We are actively seeking ways to send more to you electronically – such as the Estate Planning Questionnaire rather than printing it and mailing it needlessly. So, many of our documents, articles, and tools for our clients are now posted on line which saves paper and is often more convenient for the client.
8. We are using recyclable ink cartridges and are exploring the use of other ink products.
9. We also value your comments and input on this issue just as we do in all other respects. Many of our best client service policies originated with you. And, we hope that you will share suggestions on this topic by calling, emailing or leaving a comment below. Have a green strategy at your house or at your business that you want to share with us. Let us know.
Anyone who comments below with a suggestion, or who calls or emails with a suggestion will be eligible to win one of our new Green Law Firm shopping bags (to help you to avoid using plastic and paper bags when shopping, and one of our green suggestion books about how to make your life more environmentally friendly. Finally, our grand prize winner will get a check for $100.00 payable to a green charity of your choice.
So act now! You could be a winner and you’ll be helping the environment for all future generations.
David M. Frees III, Esquire on Wills and Estate Planning
This article By: David M. Frees III dfrees@utbf.com
Trusts, Estate and Wealth Preservation Section Chairman
Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees 610-933-8069
With Offices in Phoenixville, Malvern and West Chester Pennsylvania
Many of our clients know that having an integrated financial and estate plan makes the difference when you want to both build assets for yourself and to protect assets for your heirs. And, many of our clients have financial advisers while others are self directing their investments. Either way, ultimately , you are responsible for your own financial health. For that reason, when we come across a great article, resource, web site or book, we call them to your attention.
Remember, that as the end of the year rolls around, to check your IRA, 401(k), and life insurance beneficiary designations to make sure that they are still current and that they match your planning. You will thank us if you find your ex spouse or the wrong beneficary listed.
David M. Frees III, Esquire
Are you over 70 1/2? Do you have an IRA?
Enhanced Estate planning might be better but
not much more expensive than a simple will.
Discover how you can protect your legacy and your
heirs from law suits, divorce and, death taxes.
610-933-8069
by Douglas L. Kaune, Esquire
Estate Planning & Administration, Wills,
Trusts, Asset Protection, Elder Law
Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees
Phoenixville, Malvern, West Chester PA
Pennsylvania Attorney
dkaune@utbf.com PH: 610-933-8069
A special needs trust (SNT) (or special needs trust provision in a Will or in another trust) is an important planning option if you are considering a significant gift to a beneficiary who is considered ”disabled” or “incapacitated” and either has or is likely to qualify for government benefits such as social security disability (SSI) or Medicaid. Generally, the SNT or Supplemental Needs Trust is intended to supplement the government benefits at the sole and absolute discretion of the named Trustee, but you can review this link for some more indepth discussion of the trust options.
The SNT frequently comes under attack by the government entity providing the benefit. It may be argued that the SNT should be expended for the care of the beneficiary and the government benefits be suspended until the Trust fund is exhausted. It is our job to make sure that your Special Needs Trust stands up to the scrutiny. One planning tip is naming multiple income beneficiaries, not just the “disabled” or “incapacitated” beneficiary. This allows us to argue that the trust is not just for the beneficiary receiving the SSI, Medicaid or other benefit, but is also for these additional income beneficiaries. Therefore, a complete expenditure of trust assets would be considered to “injure” the income beneficiaries and increases the likelihood that the SNT remains intact to supplement the needs of the intended beneficiary for his or her lifetime. This is just one of many strtegies we employ to increase the success of these trusts. We will be reviewing others in the weeks to come.
Please call or email me for further discussion on this and other estate planning topics.
Douglas L. Kaune
dkaune@utbf.com
610-513-2288
Thank you for visiting our blog, make sure to add our rss feed (located below) to your favorite news reader. If you have a question about this area of the law, please drop us an email, we might even post your answer on this blog.
Who Will Initiate Probate: 
