Making Sure Your Wishes are Followed
Do you know how you would like your property to be distributed to your beneficiaries? Unless you are comfortable with the state making these important decisions (through Pennsylvania’s intestate laws), the creation of a will is the only way for your wishes to be followed.
Giribaldi, P.C., located in Delaware County, PA, assists clients with the creation of a last will and testament. Additionally, the firm assists family members to resolve will contests and other estate disputes in towns such as Glen Mills, Radnor, Wayne, Villanova, Havertown, Springfield, Media, Newtown Square, Broomall, Bryn Mawr and Chadds Ford.
Wills: Simple and Complex
Without a will, the state will determine how assets are distributed to heirs. Under 20 Pa.C.S. 2102, a surviving spouse receives 100% of the estate when there are no surviving children or other descendants and no surviving parent. When there is a surviving parent but no descendants, or when all of the descendants are also the surviving spouse's, the spouse receives the first $30,000 plus one-half of the rest. When one or more of the descendants are not also the surviving spouse's, such as a child from an earlier relationship, the spouse receives one-half of the estate. What the spouse does not receive passes to the children and other descendants or, if there are none, to the parents. If you have other thoughts on distributing inheritance, you need an estate plan.
The estate planning attorneys at Giribaldi, P.C. can assist clients with drafting carefully thought out wills based upon their unique goals and needs.
Whether you need a complex last will and testament, containing trusts and naming guardians for minor children, or simply need to name beneficiaries for a small amount of assets, we can assist you.
Questions Clients Ask About Wills and Estates
Wills
- Signing, witnesses, self-proving affidavits and what marriage or divorce changes: what makes a will valid in Pennsylvania.
- The spouse's share, children, parents and who can lose the right to inherit: who inherits if someone dies without a will in Pennsylvania.
Probate and Estates
- The appointment, fees, notices, inheritance tax and inventory at the Register of Wills in Media: how probate works in Delaware County.
- When a death leads to a claim, the estate's personal representative files it: wrongful death and survival actions in Pennsylvania.
Serving Delaware County
Estates of people who lived in our county are probated at the Register of Wills in the Government Center in Media, near our office. Our Delaware County overview explains the county offices there.