Will Lawyer

If you die without a will in Pennsylvania, your assets will pass to your closet living next of kin pursuant to state “intestate succession” laws. Here are some basics on how intestate succession works in Pennsylvania.

Only those assets that... Read More

American Wills & Estates is a locally founded, owned and operated Pittsburgh law firm with a practice limited to Probate Estate Administration, Estate Planning and Real Estate law.

We have been assisting clients throughout Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania through the often difficult and emotional probate estate administration process with competency,... Read More

Is there really any such thing as an “uncontestable” Will? The simple answer is no, but you can certainly takes steps to make such a challenge extremely difficult.
A lot of people think that putting a certain amount of time, work, or even money into drafting estate planning documents can prevent a troublesome family member from challenging a Will. That’s not how... Read More

If you're facing the prospect of having to administer the estate of a recently deceased loved one and have no idea where to begin, here's a nice little video that lays out some of the initial steps you'll need to take.

We've been guiding clients throughout Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania through the probate estate administration process with competency,... Read More

One of the most common problems we encounter as estate lawyers involve faulty, incomplete or mistaken beneficiary designations.  We see over and over again cases where someone has passed away and there surviving spouse or other family members find out to late that they had either never made a beneficiary designation on a particular investment account or insurance policy or... Read More

It’s been my experience that parents are often the only thing keeping their adult children from tearing each other’s heads off over every disputed matter or perceived slight. And, once the parents are gone, the fighting often reaches new levels of insanity. This is often particularly the case when it comes to the division of a parent’s personal and household effects after... Read More

Even if you own nothing more than a house and a couple bank accounts, it’s absolutely essential that you keep and maintain a valid Will or Revocable Living Trust document.  Otherwise, you will have no control over how your estate will pass after your death and who will be in charge of same.

I once handled an estate where gentleman passed away who was survived by... Read More

When you’re dealing with families, money and the emotional impact of losing a loved one, things can turn ugly quickly.  I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen unresolved  siblings feuds lead to acrimonious and protracted litigation concerning the administration and distribution of the estate.

One estate that comes immediately to mind involved two sisters... Read More

The Personal Representative (sometimes called the Executor or Administrator) appointed by the court is responsible for carrying out the administration of a loved one’s estate. Since the Personal Representative will be handling money and assets for someone else (i.e. the decedent, the beneficiaries, the heirs, and potential creditors of the estate) he or she is acting and... Read More

Stop procrastinating, I know no one likes to talk about estate planning, but it certainly doesn’t have to be a scary process that you keep putting off until tomorrow.  If you do absolutely nothing else, please take at the very least these basic steps:

GET THE BASIC DOCUMENTS IN PLACE

At a minimum, everyone should... Read More