Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
will question
We have been caregivers for my elderly motherinlaw for several years. She had a previous will indicating how her estate would be split up when selling her home. She has since sold her small older home - split the monies among sons and has no other assets except for very small retirement account,small life insurance policy and small checking account (which my husband is co owner that pays for her necessary expenses). She indicated recently she wanted to prepay her funeral expenses and change her will since her house has been sold to indicate the retirement money goes to her sons(50% 50%) and that my husband gets the small life insurance policy and checking account for taking sole care of her. She is of sound mind and memory. Her funeral expenses are now prepaid. However, is it necessary to rewrite a will since she has designated beneficiaries on her retirement account (50% 50% among sons,), life insurance and checking account (my husband). If these are her only assets, will not the beneficiaries (her sons) receive monies accordingly without a new will & few others named in the original be excluded by not being named as beneficiaries and tearing up old will to revoke it or writing I revoke on it.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: will question
Simply revoking the will puts into effect the laws of intestacy, which would not give your mother in law the desired result. She could certainly execute a codicil to the old will, but it would be much easier to do a new, simple will. Given the circumstances, you ought not need an attorney to do it. You could very easily go buy a book with the appropriate forms. Make certain to have the signature notarized properly. If you want more peace of mind, a trust and estates attorney could likely do this in less than an hour and charge less than $500.
Re: will question
The bottom line is your mother in law should have a new will drafted in order to avoid later confusion or problems. Please feel free to contact my office at your earliest convenience to discuss this matter further.
Sincerely,
Marc V. Taiani, Esquire
AAAL - Allegheny Attorneys At Law, P.C.
412.731.0865 (Office)
412.731.0866 (Fax)
www.Alleghenyattorneys.com
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