Get Personalized Guidance for Your Estate From an Experienced Attorney
Deciding what will happen to your home, your financial assets, and your possessions after your passing can be a difficult process. However, if you don’t take the time to make these decisions now, a court may end up dividing your property for you. Odds are strong that they will take a portion of your estate for the state and split your remaining assets among your beneficiaries in a way you did not intend.
To avoid this, the estate planning attorney at Pike Law can help you. We have extensive experience with estate planning for wills and trusts while keeping probate law in mind. We also serve as your power of attorney to make sure that your will and/or trust is carried out to your specifications.
What Can You Pass Down In Your Will?
- Real Estate: Homes, land, and other types of real estate property can be passed down to your heirs.
- Financial Assets: If you have any bank accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or retirement accounts, you can pass them or their contents to your heirs.
- Personal Property: Jewelry, art, antiques, collectibles, and other personal belongings can be passed down to specific heirs or put up for sale for the proceeds to be split amongst heirs. You can also make caveats that give your heirs freedom to share ownership or purchase ownership of personal property from each other.
- Business Interests: Ownership interests in businesses, partnerships, or shares in corporations can be passed down to your heirs.
- Digital Assets: Social media accounts, digital photos, cryptocurrencies, and any other online assets can be passed down in a will, as long as you give the login credentials to your power of attorney.
- Intellectual Property: If you have any patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or royalties, you can pass them down to your heirs.
- Debts and Liabilities: You can give instructions on how outstanding debts should be handled.
- Funeral Instructions: You can leave preferences for your funeral arrangements and burial or cremation.
What Should You Put In Your Trust?
Passing down assets through a trust can provide several advantages, including avoiding probate law, reducing estate taxes, and managing wealth for beneficiaries. Here are some key assets that should be passed down through a trust instead of a will:
Real Estate
Financial Assets
Business Interests
Personal Property
Life Insurance Policies
Retirement Accounts
Digital Assets
Family Heirlooms
Charitable Donations
Education Funds
Education Funds
Education Funds
Creating a trust involves careful planning and legal experience. It’s advisable to work with an estate planning attorney, such as the one at Pike Law, to set up a trust that fits your specific needs and ensures your assets are protected and distributed according to your wishes.
What is Probate Law?
Regardless of whether you or your loved one had a will at the time of their death, the estate must be probated before assets can be transferred to beneficiaries through a will. Because probate follows a loved one’s death, the process is often an emotional one. Probate attorney John B. Pike always aims to make the process as anxiety-free as possible.
The length of probate of an estate in Pennsylvania depends on the time it takes to complete the steps associated with probate. The probate process includes several important steps, such as:
- Notifying beneficiaries
- Paying debts, including credit card debts, tax debts, and other debts
- Notifying creditors
- Transferring assets to beneficiaries
Contact the Estate Planning & Probate Law Attorney at Pike Law For Assistance
Instead of leaving such important decisions to the courts, get the assistance you need to make wise decisions and maintain control of your assets. Attorney John B. Pike is dedicated to helping you through this emotional and complicated process. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.