Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Re: my mothers will

I can't really tell from the information that you gave whether or not your mother's Will is going to have to be probated. How are her various bank accounts titled? If they are in her name alone, then those type of accounts are likely to be frozen and you will be required to go forward with her Will and be formally appointed as the Executor of her estate before you will be able to access and close out such accounts. If, on the otherhand, all of her accounts are titled jointly with you or in-trust or pay-on-death with you, then you may not have to formally probate her estate. Irregardless, your mother's estate will be subject to inheritance tax. It doesn't matter if her assets pass to you or to the grandchildren under her Will. Such assets will still be taxed at a state inheritance tax rate of 4.5%.

Finally, do you need an attorney to assist you with this matter? By law you are certainly not required to hire an attorney. However, unless you have some legal, paralegal and/or accounting background, it is generally a wise move to retain an attorney to assist you. Whether or not you mother's estate is actually probated, there is still going to be quite a bit of paperwork and procedural processing that will be required. As Executor, you want to make sure this gets done right so that nobody can accuse you of any kind of wrongdoing down the road. This may be particularly important if the grandchildren are minors. If you would like to discuss this matter with me, please feel free to contact me directly either through www.americanwillsandestates.com or by email at [email protected]. Thank you.

Lloyd A. Welling, Esq.