Wills & Estates

Wills & Estates Attorney in Berks County, Pennsylvania

Wills are different from estates in that the WILL is written while you are living and the estate is what is processed after you die. If you don't have a Will, the State will decide how your property is divided! In a will, it can be simple or complex depending on who(m) are the beneficiaries. If you have children under the age of 18 then there must be a trustee, if someone is disabled you may want to set up a special needs Will or Trust. Even if you die with children under the age of 18 you can provide for their health, education, and well-being in a Will. The one thing that people attempt to do with a Will that the Court's may not allow is to provide for Custody of your children in the Will. You can write in the Will that you want the children to be raised by someone, but the Court isn't required to follow our recommendation. In a Will, you designate an Executor( rix ). Some people charge for this service such as a bank, or Professional person, or someone may serve in your memory. You should review your will every 5 years because circumstances do change. Your lawyers put in a Will that the Will must be probated by their Office, we do not do this.

ESTATES

With an ESTATE (this is after someone dies) a WILL is filed with the Court and administered in accordance with your wishes unless the Court were to consider your wishes unreasonable, or harmful, i.e. you leave a Million dollars to a 10-year-old and there is no Trust arrangement. If you don't have a Will then you must file for Articles of Administration (this can be done by anyone after 7 days past your death) and you must have your Will administered in accordance with State law. Some may go to your spouse, some to your children, some to bothers and sisters, and some to parents. Normally, disputes arise when there is no Will, or you can't provide for special needs, education of your children, etc and more money will go to the lawyers for the administration of the estate. That's great for the lawyers, but not for your beneficiaries. Please call for additional information.