Protecting Your Heirs and Spouses
Can you accurately say right now, if you passed away, how your estate would be distributed? Who’s entitled to it?
Planning for the inevitable isn’t being paranoid; it’s being practical. None of us live forever, but we spend a lifetime building a home and future for those we love. So, it only makes sense that preparing a proper estate plan also needs a good strategy.
Most people think estate planning is taken care of when writing a simple will, and then they stop there. While a will is essential, it only represents one tool in the portfolio available for estate planning. Let us explain why.
The fact is, Pennsylvania inheritance law doesn’t go out of its way to make sure inheritance is handled correctly for a spouse and heirs. In fact, if there’s no plan at all, then the court decides and confirms through probate how much the surviving spouse share as well as that of the heirs.
However, a bit of prevention can be worth the trouble. A Langhorne estate planning attorney can easily provide a well-revised will and last testament for the essentials, as well as trust tools for additional distributions that happen automatically as soon as a trigger event occurs.
The beauty of a trust, for example, is that it doesn’t go through probate. A spouse or heirs as benefactors receive the benefits of a trust immediately. This can be a major advantage for a family that would otherwise need to wait for the completion of probate to settle everything.
An heir of estate rights, when defined expressly in an estate plan, becomes a protected party once the court interprets the related documents. This supersedes any arbitrary expectation to do differently than the plan’s directions, and the court typically doesn’t like to overrule a well-prepared estate plan. Spousal rights tend to be the only thing with greater authority unless an exception is made in a will or estate plan tool.
With our experience in estate plan preparation, Olen Law Office can handle all types of inheritance expectations and situations. We’re able to make sure your spouse and heirs are all addressed, and your estate plan meets the standards of what the court likes to see when settling an estate.
Remember, you worked hard for everything you’ve built. Don’t let a legal process make a mess of it when you can no longer address it yourself. Let’s take care of that eventuality for you.