Our Estate Planning Law Firm is located in Easton, Pennsylvania and serves clients throughout Easton, Allentown & Bethlehem
Our Estate Planning Attorneys will work with you to ascertain your goals and craft legal solutions to reach them. Our attorneys regularly assist a variety of clients with the creation of Wills, Codicils, Power of Attorney, Living Wills, Advance Medical Directives and trusts.
Estate Planning attorneys will take the time to go over your options in detail in order to protect your assets for your enjoyment and that of future generations. Whether you require assistance in the creation of a Power of Attorney, drafting of a DNR or preparation of a complex will, our Easton Estate Planning attorneys are here to assist you.
Wills are created to assure that your estate, all the wealth and belongings you have accumulated, are dispersed the way you wish upon your death. A will can assist your executor, the person whom will be in charge of your estate when you pass away, to divide your property in accord with your wishes. Your will can also chose to, or not to, compensate your executor for there efforts. Through your will, you can also condition the receipt of your property by certain individuals on their fulfillment of certain conditions, this is called a trust.
A Power of Attorney can allow a trusted individual to exert the same control over your assets and accounts as you could yourself. It can be durable or limited, that is to say that it can last past your incapacity or inability to make your own decisions, such as a coma or it can be written to automatically lose effect if you are incapacitated. It can be broad or limited, that is to say that it can give unlimited power over your assets or it can be limited to only certain assets. It is always important to remember that a Power of Attorney does not survive your death and your Agent will have no power to act after your death.
Living Wills, sometimes referred to as Medical Power of Attorney, Advance Medical Directive or DNRs, allow you to make decisions about what will happen to your body if you become incapacitate or pass away. You can decide in advance whether or not to have certain treatments or procedures and thereby spare your family the emotional pain of making these decisions. You can also choose what specific organs to donate, if any.
Power of Attorney
Limited Power of Attorney
Durable Power of Attorney
Living Will
DNR
Advance Medical Directive
Last Will & Testament
Codicil
Will Revisions
Trusts
Living Trusts
Medical Power of Attorney
Estate Planning
Probate
In a Power of Attorney of Living Will, the Principal is the person who is assigning someone else to make decisions for them and the Agent is the person assigned to make those decisions.
We recommend choosing someone who trust generally but someone you also trust to be able make good, educated, decisions regarding your belongings.
An executor is the person who is assigned by you to carry out your wishes in your Last Will & Testament. The executor can be compensated out of your estate or can be asked to perform his or her duties for free.
Generally you should choose someone you trust as an executor. You may also wish to choose someone whom you expect to outlive you. Ideally, your executor will also not be receiving any of your estate but it is not always feasible to choose an executor who is not also included in the will.
This is a common fear and perhaps the primary reason for drafting a Last Will & Testament in the first place. We often encourage clients to add a “no contest clause” to their Will in order to address this concern. Under a “no contest clause,” if a beneficiary of your will claims that they are entitled to more than what you have set out for them, and they are unsuccessful in their case, they will forfeit whatever portion of the estate you had left for them.
If you need any legal assistance in the Lehigh Valley, please feel free to contact us. Our Easton Law Office will get back to you within one business day. Or, just call us now.
Call :(484)548-0529
Mon – Fri 09:00-17:00