WILLS & ESTATE PLANNING

Pennsylvania Wills & Estate Planning Attorney

You spend your life providing for your family because you love them.  Creating a will and an estate plan to settle your affairs and take care of your loved ones when you are not around is also a loving act for your family to help them move forward. Our office is open for virtual consults to help you in these trying times with Covid-19. Getting a Will is not a decision to postpone.

Everyone has an estate and everyone needs an estate plan, regardless of how large or modest their estate.  Your estate is comprised of everything you own — your car, home, other real estate, checking and savings accounts, investments, life insurance, furniture, and personal possessions – and these possessions must be distributed upon death.

The Law Office of Tejal Mehta crafts thoughtful and practical estate planning solutions that are unique to your family situation.  Experienced estate planning attorney Tejal Mehta will first meet with you to thoroughly understand your concerns and wishes to ensure that the estate plan she drafts for them accurately reflects their preferences.  Recognizing the sensitive nature of some of the decisions that must be made, Ms. Mehta treats her clients with empathy and respect.

Estate Planning arranges for the settlement of your estate by:

• Distributing your property according to your wishes
• Establishing protected assets for your family
• Ensuring that there is a trusted individual in place to care for your minor children
• Maximizing the value of your estate by reducing inheritance taxes and probate costs
• Leaving a lasting legacy
• Preventing costly Orphan’s Court litigation for your heirs

Estate Planning also concerns protecting your ability to manage your financial affairs and make medical decisions if you are disabled through:

• the appointment of a trusted Agent and
• the memorializing of your instructions regarding end of life medical care.

Basic Estate Plan

To ensure that your affairs are in order at your death or incapacity, at a minimum you should have the following four estate planning documents in place:

1. Will: This document specifies the transfer of your property, appoints an Executor to manage your affairs, and appoints a Legal Guardian to care for your minor children.
2. Business Power of Attorney: This document appoints an Agent to act on your behalf on a legal or business matter.
3. Medical Power of Attorney: This document appoints an Agent to make decisions on your behalf regarding your health care.
4. Living Will: This document contains your directives regarding treatment decisions when death is imminent.

Additional features of an Estate Plan may include:

Trusts

This document transfers the ownership interest in certain or all of your property to a third party called a trustee, while giving a beneficiary interest to yourself or someone else of your choosing.  You can create a trust while you are alive, or upon your death through instructions in your Will.

Placing property in a trust will:

• remove it from the probate process
• protect your assets from creditors and other people who seek to assert a claim
• reduce your estate taxes
• ensure that the assets are managed responsibly when the beneficiaries are minors or are adults who cannot manage their own affairs

The different types of trusts that may benefit your specific situation include:

• Living Trust
• Minor’s Trust
• Marital Deduction/QTIP Trust
• Credit Shelter/Bypass Trust
• Disclaimer Trust
• Life Insurance Trust
• Retirement Account/IRA Trust
• Special Needs Trust or Supplemental Needs Trust
• Charitable Remainder Trust

The Law Office of Tejal Mehta can handle all of your estate planning requirements.  If you would like to discuss the estate planning options available to you, please contact experienced estate planning attorney Tejal Mehta to schedule a 25 min consultation.  Ms. Mehta provides confidential guidance to help you plan for the unexpected with empathy and respect for your concerns.