Wealth Preservation, Trusts and Estates

Click here to read a recent New York Times Opinion piece on the mess in the federal estate tax situation.

David M. Frees III Chairs the Trust, Estate and Wealth Preservation Section of Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees

Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees has law offices in Phoenixville, Malvern, and West Chester.
The firm serves clients throughout the Philadelphia region including Exton, Chester Springs, Collegeville,
Phoenixville, and the Main Line

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Beneficiaries can use a qualified disclaimer to change distribution under a last will and testament after date of death and after probate in Pennsylvania (PA) and other states. 
A beneficiary can actually refuse all or a portion of his or her share of a decedent’s probate or non probate assets.  Click here for the technical requirements for a proper qualified disclaimer.  You might wonder, why would someone in their right mind refuse an inheritance?  There are actually great estate tax, inheritance tax and asset protection motives for discaiming assets in PA and throughout the U.S.  For example, if a wealthy individual is the beneficiary of his parents’ estate, he might choose to disclaim his interest so long as the contingent beneficiaries under the will are his own children.  This would allow for the estate assets to be distributed directly from grandparents to grandchildren and thereby skipping the son’s generation of estate and inheritance tax!!  This could result in tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax savings.  I do not want to oversimplify this issue because there are many important considerations including, but not limited to, 1.  Making sure the contingent beneficiaries named or through intestacy are the desired recipients, and 2.  there is no generation skipping tax that results. This is an important post mortem estate planning option that should be discussed with your estate and probate lawyer in PA and other localities. Please call Douglas L. Kaune, PA Lawyer 610-933-8069 for additional information and consultation.
Wills * Trusts * Probate * Elder Law * Estates * Estate Planning * Asset Protection Planning
Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester Law Offices Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, Philadelphia, Berks and Bucks County PA

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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.

Where Probate Takes Place: The Executor is appointed at the Register of Wills Office in the county in Pennsylvania where the decedent resided at death. Locally, one of the following courthouses would likely have jurisdiction: Chester County: West Chester, Montgomery County: Norristown, Delaware County: Media, Philadelphia County: Philadelphia, Bucks County: Doylestown, Berks County: Reading.

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

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