What If My Designated Executor Cannot Serve?

    First, a definition: A designated executor refers to the individual you have selected who is therefore charged with the responsibility of finalizing your estate.

    Those responsibilities can include collecting all the person’s assets, settling any outstanding debts, and distributing the assets according to the wishes and directions specified in your will.

    This is obviously a big responsibility, which means certain prerequisites have to be met by the person named as the executor. To be a designated executor in Pennsylvania, the individual named has to be at least 18 years old, deemed fit to serve, and cannot serve as an agent to a party outside the U.S.

    What If My Designated Executor Can Not Serve?

    Since the designated executor has an important job, you need to take care in naming the individual you feel is best qualified to accurately relay the wishes and directions of your estate plan. You will want someone organized, ethical, and willing and able to take on the job. It doesn’t hurt if they are also financial savvy. 

    So What Can Disqualify a Designated Executor from Service?

    A designated executor can be deemed unfit to serve by a variety of criteria. For example, it may be noted that the selected person may be of questionable character due to a criminal record or ongoing criminal investigation. Or it could be they are neglecting their executor duties or somehow interfering with the process of settling the estate. On the other hand, an executor can also be deemed unfit due to being in poor physical or mental health, being out of the country, or not able to be located.

    Whatever the reasons, should the executor be unable to perform their duties, the interested parties can petition the court to remove the unfit person as the executor. The court will then have to take multiple factors into consideration, including what the estate will need to be properly administered and how the beneficiaries will be impacted by the court’s decision.

    If a person cannot perform the executor duties due to physical or mental incapacitation, the court will also have to consider whether the person will recover in time to sufficiently perform their executor duties. If they cannot, the court will administer a general order to name a new person as the permanent executor.

    As with most aspects of estate planning, the key to effectively managing any designated executor challenge begins with taking the time to make an estate plan. Executors can become unreliable and asset situations can change, but proper planning and monitoring of your plan can help you successfully maneuver these challenges and ensure your assets get to your beneficiaries.

    To learn more about how a Johnstown estate planning attorney can help you prepare for your future, contact the Hill Group LLC today.

    How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

    Just to be clear, we’re not talking about disinheriting an individual here. Any Johnston estate planning attorney will tell you a person cannot be disinherited unless they’ve already been named as a beneficiary in your will. So you don’t have to worry about disinheriting anyone, not on the list of potential beneficiaries.

    We use the term “potential” because a will can always be changed and updated based on new situations. 

    However, it can be possible for someone to come into a beneficiary’s inheritance in a roundabout way in a way not intended by the benefactor. For example suppose you’ve named your beloved daughter as the sole beneficiary of your estate, and after coming into the inheritance, the daughter suffers a fatal accident and the inheritance comes into possession of your son-in-law.

    How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

    Now, you specifically wanted the daughter to be the beneficiary and not your son in law; he may be a nice guy and all, but you had specific wishes that your estate go to your daughter or barring that, other possible relatives of your choosing, and not end up in the hands of a whole other family (your in-laws).

    So How Can This Be Prevented?

    The simplest solution would be to place the inheritance items in question into a trust.

    A trust will allow the person to hand down specific assets to specific beneficiaries without having to deal with probate challenges.

    It’s easy to learn about setting up a living trust in the state of Pennsylvania. An experienced estate planning attorney like Dan Hill can guide you on picking the kind of trust you want, choosing the assets/goods you want to be included in the trust, picking a trustee to manage the trust, properly execute the trust document, and overall properly set up the trust.

    When talking about a living trust, the estate owner has the option to make changes to their beneficiary plans as new situations occur. Suppose, for example, the intended beneficiary passes away before the estate owner. Should that happen, the owner can and should name new beneficiaries and/or name alternate beneficiaries.

    By naming alternate beneficiaries, the estate owner creates a line of succession that allows the assets to go exactly where the owner wants them to go. Is the primary beneficiary no longer able to receive the assets? Their children can be assigned as the secondary beneficiary. If those beneficiaries are not available either then a third beneficiary could be listed as alternate, and so forth.

    It may seem morbid to try thinking that far down the line of who might be available to receive the owner’s assets, but it also presents the best way to ensure the owner’s wishes that his/her assets goes to whomever he/she desires.

    So if you want to ensure your assets go directly to specific persons or parties and not inadvertently to an unintended individual, proper estate planning and subsequent monitoring is your best option.  Take the time to make plans with a trusted attorney to ensure your will, trust, and other estate plan documents reflect your wishes. 

    Contact Your Estate Planning Lawyer Today

    To learn more about how a Johnston estate planning attorney can be of service to you and your family, contact the Hill Group LLC today.

    How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

    Just to be clear, we’re not talking about disinheriting an individual here. Any Johnston estate planning attorney will tell you a person cannot be disinherited unless they’ve already been named as a beneficiary in your will. So you don’t have to worry about disinheriting anyone, not on the list of potential beneficiaries.

    We use the term “potential” because a will can always be changed and updated based on new situations. 

    However, it can be possible for someone to come into a beneficiary’s inheritance in a roundabout way in a way not intended by the benefactor. For example suppose you’ve named your beloved daughter as the sole beneficiary of your estate, and after coming into the inheritance, the daughter suffers a fatal accident and the inheritance comes into possession of your son-in-law.

    How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

    Now, you specifically wanted the daughter to be the beneficiary and not your son in law; he may be a nice guy and all, but you had specific wishes that your estate go to your daughter or barring that, other possible relatives of your choosing, and not end up in the hands of a whole other family (your in-laws).

    So How Can This Be Prevented?

    The simplest solution would be to place the inheritance items in question into a trust.

    A trust will allow the person to hand down specific assets to specific beneficiaries without having to deal with probate challenges.

    It’s easy to learn about setting up a living trust in the state of Pennsylvania. An experienced estate planning attorney like Dan Hill can guide you on picking the kind of trust you want, choosing the assets/goods you want to be included in the trust, picking a trustee to manage the trust, properly execute the trust document, and overall properly set up the trust.

    When talking about a living trust, the estate owner has the option to make changes to their beneficiary plans as new situations occur. Suppose, for example, the intended beneficiary passes away before the estate owner. Should that happen, the owner can and should name new beneficiaries and/or name alternate beneficiaries.

    By naming alternate beneficiaries, the estate owner creates a line of succession that allows the assets to go exactly where the owner wants them to go. Is the primary beneficiary no longer able to receive the assets? Their children can be assigned as the secondary beneficiary. If those beneficiaries are not available either then a third beneficiary could be listed as alternate, and so forth.

    It may seem morbid to try thinking that far down the line of who might be available to receive the owner’s assets, but it also presents the best way to ensure the owner’s wishes that his/her assets goes to whomever he/she desires.

    So if you want to ensure your assets go directly to specific persons or parties and not inadvertently to an unintended individual, proper estate planning and subsequent monitoring is your best option.  Take the time to make plans with a trusted attorney to ensure your will, trust, and other estate plan documents reflect your wishes. 

    Contact Your Estate Planning Lawyer Today

    To learn more about how a Johnston estate planning attorney can be of service to you and your family, contact the Hill Group LLC today.

    How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

    Just to be clear, we’re not talking about disinheriting an individual here. Any Johnston estate planning attorney will tell you a person cannot be disinherited unless they’ve already been named as a beneficiary in your will. So you don’t have to worry about disinheriting anyone, not on the list of potential beneficiaries.

    We use the term “potential” because a will can always be changed and updated based on new situations. 

    However, it can be possible for someone to come into a beneficiary’s inheritance in a roundabout way in a way not intended by the benefactor. For example suppose you’ve named your beloved daughter as the sole beneficiary of your estate, and after coming into the inheritance, the daughter suffers a fatal accident and the inheritance comes into possession of your son-in-law.

    How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

    Now, you specifically wanted the daughter to be the beneficiary and not your son in law; he may be a nice guy and all, but you had specific wishes that your estate go to your daughter or barring that, other possible relatives of your choosing, and not end up in the hands of a whole other family (your in-laws).

    So How Can This Be Prevented?

    The simplest solution would be to place the inheritance items in question into a trust.

    A trust will allow the person to hand down specific assets to specific beneficiaries without having to deal with probate challenges.

    It’s easy to learn about setting up a living trust in the state of Pennsylvania. An experienced estate planning attorney like Dan Hill can guide you on picking the kind of trust you want, choosing the assets/goods you want to be included in the trust, picking a trustee to manage the trust, properly execute the trust document, and overall properly set up the trust.

    When talking about a living trust, the estate owner has the option to make changes to their beneficiary plans as new situations occur. Suppose, for example, the intended beneficiary passes away before the estate owner. Should that happen, the owner can and should name new beneficiaries and/or name alternate beneficiaries.

    By naming alternate beneficiaries, the estate owner creates a line of succession that allows the assets to go exactly where the owner wants them to go. Is the primary beneficiary no longer able to receive the assets? Their children can be assigned as the secondary beneficiary. If those beneficiaries are not available either then a third beneficiary could be listed as alternate, and so forth.

    It may seem morbid to try thinking that far down the line of who might be available to receive the owner’s assets, but it also presents the best way to ensure the owner’s wishes that his/her assets goes to whomever he/she desires.

    So if you want to ensure your assets go directly to specific persons or parties and not inadvertently to an unintended individual, proper estate planning and subsequent monitoring is your best option.  Take the time to make plans with a trusted attorney to ensure your will, trust, and other estate plan documents reflect your wishes. 

    Contact Your Estate Planning Lawyer Today

    To learn more about how a Johnston estate planning attorney can be of service to you and your family, contact the Hill Group LLC today.

    Asset Protection Planning

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    Asset Protection Planning

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    Asset Protection Planning

    Practice Areas


    Asset Protection Planning

    Practice Areas


    Asset Protection Planning

    Practice Areas


    Asset Protection Planning

    Practice Areas


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