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We are Will Attorneys dedicated to estate law, which includes estate planning, Your Last Will and Testament as well as Revocable Trusts. We are also known as Trust Lawyers or Trust Attorneys that handle every aspect of a legal will.

Estate planning can protect your assets, provide for your family and give you peace of mind. In addition, estate planning can typically eliminate the uncertainties over the administration of an estate and maximize the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses.
 
Depending on your situation and needs, a number of estate vehicles can be incorporated into an estate plan in order to achieve an efficient administration of an estate while, at the same time, maximizing its value.
 
At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our estate planning attorneys serve Philadelphia and the surrounding counties as well as southern New Jersey. Our estate planning lawyers specialize in the area of estate planning and estate administration. Our wills and trusts attorneys are legally trained to evaluate your current situation, as well as your goals and objectives, and provide you with the legal options in order to draft a comprehensive estate plan.

  • Estate Questions?
  • Appointing an Executor in your last will and testament
  • A last will and testament bequeaths property to heirs
  • Who needs a last will?
  • Common excuses for not creating a last will and testament
  • People can surprise you
  • Revocable Living Trusts
  • What is a revocable living trust?
  • Estate Planning
  • Protect Your Personal Well-Being
  • Protect Your Estate
  • Comprehensive
  • Benefits of a Trust
  • The Difference between Trusts and Wills
  • Other Types of Trusts
  • Read About the Attorney’s That Will Be Helping You


Estate planning consists of protecting your personal well-being and assets, during both your lifetime and for the benefit of your beneficiaries. Estate planning requires a comprehensive plan drafted by trained, competent and experienced estate planning attorneys.
 
The law office of Dugalic & Landau, PC offers valuable estate planning services. Our estate planning attorneys are experienced and knowledgeable in estate planning and helping you to protect your personal well-being and your estate. Learn how to implement an estate plan by speaking with an estate planning attorney today. Call today in order to speak directly with an estate planning lawyer who will help you understand and implement a plan that will enable you to protect your personal well-being and your estate.
 

I.       Estate Plan- Protect Your Personal Well-Being

The first order of priority is to make sure your assets and personal well-being is protected during your own lifetime. This process requires you to draft documents in order to appoint other individuals to stand in your place in order to make decisions regarding your personal well-being and assets. These documents may include a living will, a health care directive, a power of attorney, conservatorship and a revocable living trust. All of these documents enable you to maintain control over your personal well-being and assets even in a period where you may be unable to do so yourself. In the event you have any minor or disabled adult children a guardianship document will serve to allow you to appoint who should provide for their care.

The law office of Dugalic & Landau, PC offers valuable estate planning services. Our estate planning attorneys are experienced and knowledgeable in estate planning and helping you to protect your personal well-being and your estate. Learn how to implement an estate plan by speaking with an estate planning attorney today. Call today in order to speak directly with an estate planning lawyer who will help you understand and implement a plan that will enable you to protect your personal well-being and your estate.
 

II.     Estate Plan – Protect Your Estate

tax savings
protection of assets
efficient estate administration

Estate planning should also include comprehensive plan that protect your estate from unnecessary taxes and the time and expenses involved in probate, which is the legal court process by which a person's final debts are settled and legal title to property is formally passed from the decedent to his or her beneficiaries and heirs. First, our wills and trusts lawyers can evaluate your situation and help you decide which planning is right for you in order to minimize or avoid estate and inheritance tax implications. Second, our will lawyers are experienced in drafting legal wills that provide for an efficient probate process and our trust attorneys have years of experience in drafting various trust documents that can enable your estate to avoid probate proceedings altogether and maintain control of your estate even after your death.

The law office of Dugalic & Landau, PC offers valuable estate planning services. Our estate planning attorneys are experienced and knowledgeable in estate planning and helping you to protect your personal well-being and your estate. Learn how to implement an estate plan by speaking with an estate planning attorney today. Call today in order to speak directly with an estate planning lawyer who will help you understand and implement a plan that will enable you to protect your personal well-being and your estate. 

 III.    Estate Plan – Comprehensive

A.      Living Will

A living will states your wishes regarding what life sustaining measures you would or would not want to have performed upon you in the event you were facing imminent death. Living wills must be legally honored by both relatives and attending physicians and other medical personnel.

Our estate planning attorneys are trained and experienced in drafting living wills that meets your goals and objectives.  Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with one of our wills and trusts attorneys in order to address your estate planning needs today.                                                     

B.      Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare/ Health Care Directive

A durable power of attorney for health care, often referred to as a “healthcare directive”, informs an individual you have named on what medical procedures you would want to have undertaken by physicians and other medical personnel in the event you are unable to make such decisions yourself.  
Our estate planning attorneys are trained and experienced in drafting durable power of attorney documents that meets your goals and objectives.  Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with one of our wills and trusts attorneys in order to address your estate planning needs today.

C.      Durable Power of Attorney for Assets

A power of attorney document authorizes an individual to act on your behalf in managing your assets in the event you are unable to manage your own assets due to, for example, a state of physical or mental incapacity. A power of attorney document may have limitations on when the individual named as power of attorney may actually have the power to act. In the end, however, a power of attorney document remains legally valid only when the individual who granted such power is alive; in other words, once the individual who grants power of attorney dies the power of attorney document is no longer an operative document.

Our estate planning attorneys are trained and experienced in drafting durable power of attorney documents that meets your goals and objectives.  Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with an estate planning lawyer in order to address your estate planning needs today.

D.      Last Will and Testament

The purpose of a last will and testament is to properly name an individual who will assume responsibility of your affairs, plan for the payment of outstanding debts and taxes and to disburse property to heirs upon the death of the author or testator.
A last will and testament can be a very simple document with very simple provisions or it can be an extremely complicated document with complicated rules and provisions. 
In other words, an individual can pretty much make their last will and testament whatever they want it to be as long as it falls within the laws of the state in which it is to be executed.
An individual’s last will is first, a legal document. A properly written last will and testament carries the full weight of the law and courts consider them to be amongst the most sacred of documents because the writer of the legal will is not around to explain their last will and testament or make modifications to it. 

Courts will seldom overturn any provision of a legal will unless they are found to be contrary to the law, the situation has changed dramatically and it can be shown that the writer would have changed things, or it can be proven that the writer was incompetent or under duress when they wrote their last will. 

Therefore, it is crucial that every element of the last will and testament is properly written and well articulated. It is equally important that your last will be kept up to date. Even though an individual’s last will may no longer adequately reflect their wishes, it will still be honored by the court in almost every circumstance.  

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our will attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering wills and trusts documents. The experience of a competent estate planning lawyer will help yo understand wills and probate and enables us to help you indentify the issues in order to assure that your last will and testament appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with a will attorney in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a last will and testament into your estate plan.

i. Appointing an Executor in your last will and testament

Another important aspect of a last will and testament is to name the executor or the person that will be in charge of wrapping up the affairs of the estate, including the payment of any final expenses, such as debts and taxes, and making distribution of assets to named beneficiaries in the decedent’s last will. If a legal will does not exist, the property is distributed according to the state law of intestacy. (Note that one who dies with a legal will is said to have died "testate,” and is called the "Testator." A decedent without a legal will has died “intestate.”).  

If an individual has died intestate it is then up to the court to appoint an administrator who will appoint an executor.  If there is a family disagreement over who this should be, the administrator will generally appoint a 3rd party who will probably charge the estate for his/her services.
At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our will attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering wills and trusts documents. The experience of a competent estate planning lawyer will help you understand wills and probate and enables us to help you indentify the issues in order to assure that your last will and testament appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with a will attorney in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a last will and testament into your estate plan.

ii. A last will and testament bequeaths property to heirs

The other basic aspect of any legal will is to specify how property will be disbursed to the heirs as well as what individuals have been named as heirs of the estate. If there is no last will and testament, the property will be disbursed according to state intestate law, and there are many misconceptions as to what state law dictates.  For instance, when there are children, not all property is automatically given to the remaining spouse.

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our will attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering wills and trusts documents. The experience of a competent estate planning lawyer will help you understand wills and probate and enables us to help you identify the issues in order to assure that your last will and testament appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with a will lawyer in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a last will and testament into your estate plan.

iii. Who needs a last will?

The short answer is… everybody needs a legal will! We often hear people say that since they don’t have much, they don’t need a legal will. Others say that their kids know how assets are to be divided and therefore, they don’t need a last will and testament. 
Whether you have just a few assets or a very complicated estate with a large amount of assets, everyone should have a legal will. Consulting a competent and trained will lawyer can prevent many problems and make sure that your last will and testament is written according to the laws of your state and is a legal will.

You may think that everyone understands how your assets are to be divided and indeed they may. However, many families’ relationships have been ruined over relatively minor misunderstandings or because things have been changed. 

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our will attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering wills and trusts documents. The experience of a competent estate planning lawyer will help yo understand wills and probate and enables us to help you indentify the issues in order to assure that your last will and testament appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with a will lawyer in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a last will and testament into your estate plan.

iv. Common excuses for not creating a last will and testament:

“Everybody already knows who’s supposed to get what.”
OR
“In my desk drawer there’s a list of my possessions, and the persons to whom they should be given.” OR
“I don’t have much. The kids can just come in and divide it among themselves however they decide.” OR
“I put name tags on the bottom of every nick-knack and piece of furniture, so they’ll know who gets it.”
OR
“Last year I put all my money in a joint account with my oldest daughter. After I die, she knows to split it three ways with her brothers.”

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our will attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering wills and trusts documents. The experience of a competent estate planning lawyer will help you understand wills and probate and enables us to help you identify the issues in order to assure that your last will and testament appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with a will lawyer in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a last will and testament into your estate plan.

v. People can surprise you

All the common situations above (and any others you might add) are prescriptions for trouble, for various reasons. There is simply no way for anyone to enforce your intended plan if it is not contained in a last will. Families can be forever torn apart, jockeying for position over the distribution of even small amounts of property.
Many people acknowledge the pitfalls - for others - of not having a last will and testament. But their kids, so they say, would respect the parents’ wishes and never stoop to fighting over the estate. 
Even if these folks are right, what about the kids’ spouses? In-laws (sons and daughters, particularly) can be a problem. Whether it is well intentioned or not, meddling is a specialty with some of these people. 

Unless you spell out your wishes in a last will and testament, the door may be open, for example, for your pushy son-in-law to have his say about things, or to pressure your daughter. Never mind that the issue is absolutely none of his business!

Our will lawyers are trained and experienced in drafting a last will and testament that meets your goals and objectives.  Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with one of our estate planning lawyers in order to address your estate planning today.

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our will attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering wills and trusts documents. The experience of a competent estate planning lawyer will help you understand wills and probate and enables us to help you indentify the issues in order to assure that your last will and testament appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with a will lawyer in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a last will and testament into your estate plan.

E.      Revocable Living Trusts

If you hear the word “trust” and think it is an estate planning tool used only by the rich, you should know that over the past few decades, individuals and families in all income brackets are using living trusts to plan their estates and to avoid the costs and delays of probate. Revocable living trusts have become an even more important estate planning tool throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey because of the appreciation of real estate. With the average cost of a home continuing to increase over a period of year, a trust can save the heirs thousands of dollars by avoiding the probate process where court costs, executor fees, and attorney fees are based on a percentage of the value of the estate.           

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our living trust attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering living trust documents. The experience our living trust attorneys have in drafting living trusts enables us to help you indentify the issues in order to assure that your living trust appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with one of a living trust attorney in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a revocable living trust into your estate plan.

i. What is a revocable living trust?

A revocable living trust, sometimes referred to as a living trust or family trust, is simply a written contract executed by the grantor (the person who creates the trust) and delivered to the trustee (the person who is in charge of the trust, usually the same person as the grantor), which is made for the benefit of a group of people (your “beneficiaries”). 

A living trust is deemed revocable because the document is allowed to be revoked or changed at any time and as often as the grantors like. In addition, a living trust is called “living” because it is created and takes effect while you are alive. Some people, on the other hand, create "testamentary trusts" which only take effect upon death. 

When an individual(s) creates a revocable living trust they transfer ownership of their assets to the living trust. Transfer of ownership, however, is transparent meaning that the grantor(s) still maintains full management, ownership and control of their assets even though they have been re-titled into the name of the living trust. It’s only during a period of incapacity or death of a grantor(s) that a successor trustee, named by the grantor in the document, would assume control of the assets for the benefit of the grantor(s). Therefore, the grantor does not relinquish any control.
 
As a result, a revocable living trust enables an individual(s) to maintain control of their assets during a period of physical or mental incapacity. In addition, a living trust is a legal document which enables an estate to avoid probate proceedings upon death and, as a result, remain private. In addition, a living trust can also allow a grantor(s) to maintain control of assets even after their death by placing provisions in the trust document which control the distribution of assets from the trust to the beneficiaries. 
 
At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our living trust attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering living trust documents. The experience our living trust attorneys have in drafting living trusts enables us to help you indentify the issues in order to assure that your living trust appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with one of a living trust attorney in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a revocable living trust into your estate plan.

ii. BENEFITS OF A TRUST

     There are many benefits to having a revocable trust:

a.    Avoid Probate

There are two major goals in most estate planning: (1) to keep costs down and (2) to make your estate settlement as efficient as possible. A revocable trust is the most popular way to pass your wealth on to the next generation without the cost or delay of our probate system.
Instead of an “executor” you will appoint a trustee of your trust. Most often, you will be the first trustee. Your successor trustee will then be responsible for settling your estate when you pass away. This can all be done privately without court intervention, if set up properly. No probate is necessary because you owned nothing in your own name; your trust “owned” all of your assets.

Better yet, the process can take significantly less time to administer than a court-monitored probate. Also, your successor trustee is entitled to reasonable fees for their services, but this is typically far less than the court fees, attorney’s fees, and executor’s fees involved in a probate. If you and your estate planning attorney set up your revocable living trust correctly, your trustee will be able to administer your estate with little or no outside help from expensive professionals.


b.    Reduce Federal Estate Taxes

Married couples are allowed two exemptions from the federal estate tax if they implement the right type of trust. If you or your spouse is not a citizen of the United States, you will need a special trust that grants both of you the maximum estate tax deduction. You may also provide for your spouse of a second marriage while maintaining control over the remainder of the property and still avoid federal estate taxes on your death.

Other ways of avoiding federal estate taxes include planning techniques such as gifting, irrevocable life insurance trusts, family business formation, and many other strategies. It is very important to create the right type of trust for your estate in order to reduce or eliminate a federal estate tax.
In the year 2009, the federal estate tax exemption was $3.5 million, and in 2010, there is no limit on the amount that can pass to your heirs tax free. However, in the year 2011, the law “sunsets” and the limit goes back to $1.0 million. We don’t know what Congress has planned for the inheritance tax in 2011, so it is very important to stay in contact with your estate planning attorney on this important issue.

c.    Avoid Conservatorship

A Conservatorship is the court-monitored process necessary when a person becomes incapacitated and cannot manage his or her own finances. A revocable trust is the best way to plan for an unforeseen disability without court involvement. If you become incapacitated, either mentally or physically, your successor trustee can step in and administer your estate without court involvement. You and your estate planning attorney will discuss and draft all the directions your trustee will need to administer your estate in the event of your incapacity, and make sure that you are taken care of during your illness. You will have the power to appoint a trustee you trust to handle financial and health related matters. A revocable trust, along with a durable power of attorney for healthcare, will provide your trustee with all the necessary direction and power manage your heath care and your finances.

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our living trust attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering living trust documents. The experience our living trust attorneys have in drafting living trusts enables us to help you indentify the issues in order to assure that your living trust appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with one of a living trust attorney in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a revocable living trust into your estate plan.

iii. The Difference between Trusts and Wills
 
To many a revocable living trust looks a lot like an individual’s last will. The living trust includes details and instructions for how an individual wants their estate to be handled at their death. Unlike a last will and testament, however, a revocable living trust:
 
1.      Prevents the courts from controlling your assets at incapacity.
2.      Prevent your estate from being subject to probate upon death.
3.      Gives you control over the assets you leave to your beneficiaries.

Remember, there really is nothing complicated about a revocable living trust – it is just like a will, but is merely administered differently upon your death. While you are alive, you will still own all of your property, and may do whatever you want with it. The most important difference between a will and a living trust is that your trust must be “funded” with all of your property in order to avoid probate. If an asset is not properly titled, it may have to be probated by your heirs, thereby defeating the very reason for making a living trust. On the other hand, not all of your assets should be in the living trust due to taxes and other reasons. 

At Dugalic & Landau, PC, our living trust attorneys have years of experience in drafting and administering living trust documents. The experience our living trust attorneys have in drafting living trusts enables us to help you identify the issues in order to assure that your living trust appropriately addresses all areas of your estate. Call our office in order to arrange a free consultation with one of a living trust attorney in order to learn how you and your family can enjoy the benefits of implementing a revocable living trust into your estate plan.

iv. Other Types of Trusts

When you begin planning your trust, it is important that you speak with an estate planning attorney, and obtain proper advice on how the entire process works. At Dugalic & Landau, P.C., an estate planning attorney will help you identify the right type of trust for you and your family.  There are many different types of trusts, including:

          ● Charitable Trusts
          ● Asset Protection Trusts
          ● Special Needs Trusts
          ● Generation Skipping Trusts
          ● Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)
          …and many others.

The law office of Dugalic & Landau, PC offers valuable estate planning services. Our estate planning attorneys are experienced and knowledgeable in estate planning and helping you to protect your personal well-being and your estate. Learn how to implement an estate plan by speaking with an estate planning attorney today. Call today in order to speak directly with an estate planning lawyer who will help you understand and implement a plan that will enable you to protect your personal well-being and your estate.
 

Let's discuss your plan today.