Estate Planning

You hope to live a long and healthy life, but even the best medical care can’t ward off death forever. Developing a complete estate plan now can give you the peace of mind to know that you will be taken care of in your final days, and your loved ones will carry on your legacy after you are gone. By working with an experienced estate planning attorney now, you can prepare for the future and make it easier for your loved ones to handle your affairs.

Media, PA Attorneys Preparing for the Future

At Berman & Associates, our estate planning attorneys want to help you anticipate the road ahead, creating a plan for your care and your family’s needs. Our compassionate and thoughtful estate planning team can help you do the work today to make a difficult time easier for your family in the future. We are proud to help families of all kinds plan for their children, friends, and loved ones and create a comprehensive estate plan that anticipates their needs.

What is Estate Planning?

An estate plan is a set of documents that direct how you want your affairs to be handled when you are no longer able to make those decisions yourself. It includes how your property will be divided among your surviving family members and loved ones, as well as how your end-of-life care should be handled. Depending on your assets, your family situation, and your loved one’s needs, a thorough estate plan may include:

• Last Will and Testament, describing how your assets should be distributed and who will be responsible for overseeing your estate.
• Durable power of attorney for finances, naming the person you want managing your financial matters if you become incapacitated or otherwise unable to do it yourself.
• Living will, directing end-of-life medical decisions such as hospice, resuscitation, and life-extending treatments.
• Health care power of attorney, naming an agent to speak to doctors and hospitals and make sure your wishes are honored in your final days.
• HIPAA authorization forms, giving your doctors permission to speak to your agent about your medical condition
• Living trust, creating a new legal entity to manage the transfer of your property to your loved ones over time.
• Special needs trust, providing for your disabled loved one in a way that protects their welfare eligibility.

You can read more about many of these estate planning documents using the links below.

Experienced Wills and Estate Planning Lawyers Who Care

Some people come to an estate planning lawyer’s office with a full list of who they want to receive their property. For others, that list is full of questions about what can or should be done. No matter where you are in your estate planning process, we can help. Our experienced estate planning attorneys can guide you through answering the hard questions about your end of life care, funeral preferences, and distribution of assets. Then we will prepare documents for you that put that plan into action. We will help you anticipate estate tax consequences and other obstacles. That way you can create an estate plan that preserves your assets and passes more on to the next generation.

Hire a Pennsylvania Law Firm to Protect Your Legacy

Our estate planning team understands how hard it can be to plan for your family’s future without you. We want to help you ensure that your family and your legacy carry on long after you are gone. We welcome you to contact us to schedule a consultation with an experienced PA estate planning attorney, so we can start working for you and your family.