A Will (Last Will & Testament) is one-way ticket to probate court. Wills do not avoid probate. If you are relying on your Will to distribute your assets at your death, you have guaranteed your family’s participation in the court’s administrative process to receive your assets. Anticipate that process to take an average of 12-18 months.

Absolutely not. Trusts are a tool. And depending on the particular job you are looking to accomplish, a Trust may be the right tool for you. The question of whether or not you need a Trust has nothing to do with how much you accumulate in net worth, and everything to do with what you want to achieve. You want to avoid probate? Trusts avoid probate. You have a loved one who receives some type of disability award? Special purpose trusts may help protect his or her inheritance and not interfere with those disability benefits. You want to protect your assets from future nursing home costs? There are particular trusts designed to address that concern as well.

There are several reasons we do not advise transferring your house into your child’s name, not the least of which is you lose complete control over your house and property, and are at the mercy of that child who has total authority to kick you out and sell your house if he or she sees fit. While we do not often see that extreme of a scenario, the bigger concern is that your child’s problems become your problems, meaning if that child gets sued or divorced—risks they may have never anticipated—your house would be subject to paying those expenses or being exposed to that child’s creditors. Another major concern with transferring your house into a child’s name while you are still living is the significant capital gains tax ramifications you may have created with that transaction.

Yes, there are legal planning strategies available to preserve assets from being spent down. And the sooner you take action to put a plan in place, the more opportunity you have at your disposal. As a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation, I see this situation often and help families navigate these crises on a regular basis. You are not alone and we can help.

I would categorize that answer as inaccurate or incomplete. Yes, one option available is to spend all of her assets down. However, there may be some other alternative legal plans that could be enacted depending on your mother’s goals, and those plans may involve a strategy to protect some of her assets. This is often a good measuring stick to separate a Certified Elder Law Attorney from an attorney with limited experience in the long-term care world.

Yes, we can assist with the administration of your parents’ affairs whether their assets are passing through a Last Will & Testament, meaning we would need to go through the probate court process, or whether they had a trust and need the trust to be administered privately. We handle both probate and trust administration.

It is imperative that you sit down with an attorney and create an estate plan. When minor children are involved, not only do you need a plan for how and when they will receive your assets if you pass away, but you also need to plan for who will become your children’s legal guardian. This is one of the most important questions for a parent with minor children—who will be in charge of them? If you don’t execute your own legal documents nominating who you would want in charge of your kids, a court is going to decide for you. You have a responsibility to your kids to create your plan as soon as possible.

Yes. A large part of our practice is focused on this type of proactive asset protection planning. While we cannot control if someone needs long-term care in his or her future, we can control how we plan for that possibility and put a strategy in place to protect what’s important to you. Keep in mind there is a 5-year look back on assets you transfer out of your name, so the planning techniques we develop are best established when you are healthy and do not foresee long-term care in your immediate future.

Our physical office location is downtown Beaver, PA, at 282 East End Avenue, Beaver, PA 15009.

We are located across from the Beaver Train Station. In Western Pennsylvania, we service the following areas: Beaver County—Beaver, Beaver Falls, Brighton Township, Chippewa Township, Monaca, Center Township, Aliquippa, Hopewell Township, Freedom, Rochester, New Brighton, North Sewickley, Ohioville, Baden, Conway, Ambridge; Lawrence County—Ellwood City, New Castle, Enon Valley, Bessemer, Shenango, Union, SNPJ, Neshannock, Hickory, Wampum; Butler County—Cranberry Township, Zelienople, Evans City, Mars, Adams Township, Saxonburg, Clinton; Allegheny County—Sewickley, Moon Township, Findlay, North Fayette, Robinson, Bell Acres, Franklin Park, Marshall.

While we have a physical office, we can also arrange to travel directly to your home or somewhere you feel comfortable to hold a meeting, if necessary.

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While our physical office is in Pennsylvania, we also service counties along Eastern Ohio. For families who reside in Ohio and wish to speak with us regarding their Ohio elder law and estate planning legal issues, we can schedule appointments to travel directly to their homes, via Zoom, or at a number of conference rooms we have access to through our expansive referral source network. We travel to the following areas in Eastern Ohio: Mahoning County—Youngstown, Poland, New Middletown, Springfield, Boardman, Canfield, Austintown, Jackson, Milton; Columbiana County—Columbiana, Salem, Leetonia, Lisbon, East Palestine, Unity, Middleton, Elkrun, Hanoverton, Calcutta; Trumbull County—Hubbard, Girard, Niles, Warren, Vienna, Vienna Center, Champion, Liberty, Brookfield Center, Newton Falls, Lordstown, Mineral Ridge, Fowler.

“Estate planning” is broken. Traditionally, attorneys bill their time hourly, set up a slew of documents, and send the client out into the world to apply those documents as necessary, with little to no guidance from the attorney in the future. Why? Because the attorney’s “meter” is always running, like a taxicab. Another problem with most traditional estate planning firms is that their sole focus is on planning for death, i.e., who gets your assets when you pass away? That thinking holds little value for families who fear potential nursing home costs in the future, or who are currently experiencing them. If you don’t have a plan for your assets while you are still living, the point of planning for who gets what when you pass away may be moot.

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Our goal is protection. Protection for families who have concerns about losing their nest egg to long-term care costs. Protection for clients’ children against concerns like future divorce, creditors, lawsuits, etc. Protection for young families who have minor children and need a plan for who will care for and be responsible for those minors if the parents die unexpectedly. And we focus on this idea of protection through transparency. Flat fees. No more cost based on our time involved. Estate size is irrelevant to our fee quoting—we charge based on the type of plan we create for you. And likewise, we encourage our clients to follow up with us when they have questions and meet regularly to review their existing plan. No meters. No unexpected expenses. If there is work to be done, you will know if there is a legal fee before it begins.

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What makes us different? The message that most resonates with prospects and clients who visit our office, or whose homes I travel to, and certainly the message I’m most proud of, is the level of ease and comfort they feel after meeting with us. We meet people in some of the most stressful situations of their lives. And to give them hope, to give them reassurance, to watch that stress melt away—that’s why we do what we do. We don’t treat you as another number, or invoice, or metric. When you work with us, you’re our family (in fact, our team who will be helping you is all family ourselves). And we’re going to sit around the table like families do and figure out how to solve your problems. You won’t find me in a 3-piece suit or even a shirt and tie. Our office has a much more homelike atmosphere. You won’t feel that stiff, stressful silence associated with many law firm offices as if you have to be quiet and mournful when you walk in. Have little kids? Great, bring them with you and let them play in our kids’ area. We have books, toys…you name it. Your problems are not a transaction. This is one of the most important decisions you will make in life. And that matters to us.

We have a process we follow to get your plan across the finish line as efficiently as possible. When a client is ready to get their estate planning documents in order—whether they need a Will-based plan or a Trust-based plan—our goal is to have your plan and documents finalized in 4 to 6 weeks. The initial phase of our engagement involves three to four meetings. The initial consultation is our fact-finding meeting where we learn about your goals and concerns, see if we can resolve those issues for you, and determine if we are a good fit to work together. Our second meeting involves gathering the necessary information to draft your documents, i.e., names and contact information for primary and contingent decision makers for POAs, Wills, Trusts, as well as beneficiaries. Between our second and third meetings, we draft everything necessary for your plan, review the documents, and send them to you for a review. The timeframe between the second and third meetings is typically about 4 weeks. After confirming everything is satisfactory, we will execute your documents at our third meeting. If it is necessary to discuss funding a Trust, we make ourselves available for a fourth meeting to discuss titling-related questions with your financial professionals. For crisis planning matters and probate or trust administration matters, the steps in our process are more fact-specific to your situation. We will remain in regular contact with you to address the necessary issues for your matter, recognizing that time is of the essence, particularly in crisis Medicaid planning. The sooner we obtain and review all pertinent information, the earlier we are able to apply for benefits, and most likely, the more opportunity we have to preserve more assets.