At McMorrow Law, LLC,
You Come First

Ensuring Your Loved Ones Are Provided For

The estate planning attorneys at McMorrow Law, LLC, can help you make an effective estate plan to protect and provide for your loved ones.

What is a will? A last will and testament is a legal document which is created by the testator and often drafted by an estate planning attorney to direct his or her executor how his estate will be handled and distributed.

A will can provide instructions on how personal property is distributed (like artwork, family heirlooms, china, furniture, automobiles, collectibles, jewelry), what happens to the testator’s real property upon death (does it go to the spouse, the children, or is it to be sold?), and what becomes of the remaining assets (bank accounts, cash, investment accounts, proceeds from the sale of other tangible property, retirement accounts without a beneficiary listed).

Why You Need A Will

If you do not have a will when you die, your wishes may not be carried out the way you intended. Your family will have to probate your estate via the laws of intestacy (intestacy is dying without a will). For instance, you may have assumed your husband would automatically get your entire estate upon your death.

However, if there are children of the marriage or from another marriage, your husband may not get everything. He may have to fight the children or stepchildren for a fraction of the estate by taking his elective share (depending on the circumstances, he may only get one-third to one-half of the probate estate). Do not forget that children are taxed at a higher rate than a spouse for inheritance tax purposes, too.

We Can Help You Achieve Your Estate Planning Goals

At McMorrow Law, LLC, we provide a free consultation to discuss your estate planning goals. When working with our estate planning clients, we review the titling of assets, amount of the estate, and handling the what-ifs should a beneficiary predecease you.

If you plan on giving a specific bequest or a residuary gift to a minor child or grandchild, we can draft a minor’s trust so that child or grandchild will benefit from the funds for their health, education, maintenance and support until they reach the age of majority without having access to it. We can also devise provisions for that minor child taking principal from their trust once they become an adult. If you have minor children, we will add a provision directing who you want to be the guardian of your minor child should you die prior to that child becoming an adult.

You will have the option of picking a variety of fiduciaries to make the most important decisions after you are gone like an executor, a trustee and a guardian.

Don’t Wait Until It Is Too Late

Although this is not a comprehensive list of the details that go into a last will and testament, these are some of the important ones. Every person, no matter how large or small your estate is, should have at least a basic will.

Our founding attorney has drafted hundreds of estate plans for clients in the greater Pittsburgh area from the very basic to the most sophisticated. If you are in need of a will review or need help in drafting a will, please contact the Pittsburgh estate planning attorneys at 412-407-2816 .