Best Business Attorneys in Altoona, PA

If you die without a will, your assets will be distributed according to the Pennsylvania Intestate Act. The Act will determine which of your surviving family members receive assets from your estate and in what amounts. In addition, the Act will determine who is eligible to serve as the administrator of your estate. In this scenario, the outcome may not match your wishes. By having a will, you can determine for yourself how your assets are distributed and who will handle your estate as an administrator.

In approximately 90% of our estates, the work needed to complete the estate, including distributions to beneficiaries, is complete within one year from the date the estate is opened. The process can be delayed if real estate needs to be sold or some type of litigation is pending and must be completed.

Trusts are created for a variety of reasons depending on your particular situation and needs. First, if you have beneficiaries who are under the age of 18 who are not legally able to manage money because they are minors, you might create a trust to handle distributions until they reach the age of maturity. Second, you may want to protect certain individuals from having unlimited access to large amounts of money. Third, you may wish to protect individuals who have special needs and/or are receiving government benefits. Fourth, there may be estate planning goals which can best be met with use of a trust. Trusts may be established while you are alive or after you die as part of your will.

Title insurance is an insurance policy issued by a licensed Title Insurance Company ensuring that you have good title to real estate you own or are buying. Policies are also issued to banks who may lend you money to buy real estate. Our office has two attorneys who are licensed title insurance agents and can issue title insurance to you and to your bank.

In a vast majority of our cases, there is no consultation fee. That includes will conferences, estate matters, real estate transactions and auto cases. There may be a consultation fee for an individual who wishes to discuss a matter and obtain advice on how to proceed. Our staff will let you know if such a fee is to be paid and how much it will be. As for any fees owed to the office, we have flexible payment arrangements available to the extent a client needs such flexibility.