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Every now and then I am consulted about a situation involving dissatisfaction with how an Estate is being administered. Sometimes its the Executor who is being challenged and sometimes its a beneficiary who does not agree with something that the Executor is doing.  Let me start out by saying tha...

You may have heard that in Pennsylvania, words written on a napkin can be considered a Will. Crazy, right? Well actually that can be true. In Pennsylvania, the requirements for a document to be a valid Will are pretty limited. First, the testator (the person who is making the Will), must have tes...

A guardianship is an Order entered by the Court that provides for the care of the person and finances of an incapacitated person.

When preparing your Will, there are 3 main things that you want to consider: 1) What it is you are looking to accomplish?; 2)  How do you want your Estate to be distributed?; and 3) Who is going to handle the administration of your Estate? This article with some valuable information to help you answer these three questions.

Preparing your Will and other Estate Planning documents is a great first step. However, before you put the documents away, there are some additional steps you should take to ensure that your plans will be carried out the way you envisioned when you pass away.

Looking for something productive to do while you are quarantined?  You might consider creating or updating your will.  Wills make things easier for the people you care about since Wills make your desires known. Do you have a Will? If not, contact me for an easy questionnaire form to get start...

When preparing your Will, one of the most important parts will be you plan for distributing your estate – the assets that you own at the time or your death. It's a good idea to have several different options for your estate plan. In other words, you should have a plan for what will happen to your...

One question that often comes up when I am talking with clients about their custody situation is the difference between legal and physical custody. It is important to understand these terms because they play an important role in the custody process. Legal Custody Legal custody establishes who...

One of the issues that separated parents with children often face is how best to communicate with each other regarding the children.  Best case is that parents are able to talk with each other and also trust each other regarding exchanging information. However, that is not always the case. But ...

On September 17, 2016 I had the privilege of being part of a symposium held at the National Constitution Center and sponsored by First Amendment Voice as part of the celebration of Constitution Day. This happened to be the 229th Anniversary of the final signing of the Constitution. I was part of ...

In Part-1 of the Blog Post – Defending Your Church in a Hostile Environment – I talked about the threat that faces churches today. In Part 2 of the Post I wanted to go over some steps that churches can take to defend themselves in a hostile environment. So now that we have determined that church...

If you receive child support you probably know that your child support Order covers how medical expenses for your children are to be paid.  However, there is sometimes confusion about how unreimbursed medical expenses get paid and how much each parent is responsible for. Health Insurance/Premium...

Wishing you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving! About 226 years ago, President George Washington issued the following Proclamation setting November 26, 1789 as a National Day for giving thanks: Thanksgiving Proclamation [New York, 3 October 1789] By the President of the United St...

The beginning of a new year is often a time when people make resolutions about things they are going to do in the new year.  Whether it is losing weight, getting in shape or something else, we all want to start off on a good foot.  When making your resolutions, why don't you resolve this year t...

The Christmas Story (Luke 2: 1 – 20 NLT) At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census...

Seems that every year at this time there are articles in the news about the “War on Christmas” and efforts of certain groups to cleanse the public schools of any reference to “Christmas”.  What most people do not realize, though, is that much of what is reported about Christmas in the public sc...

In case you haven't noticed, Christmas season is approaching fast.  For those of you with children in school, this mean that your kids may be participating in band and choral concerts. One question that often comes up this time of year is whether a public school can include religious, and in pa...

One issue that will face churches with the spread of same sex marriages is whether they can be forced to allow their facilities to be used for same sex wedding ceremonies.  According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the answer is No.  A recent article on Speak Up, ADF's Blog about Church law,...

Pennsylvania is a no-fault divorce state which means that spouses can get a divorce without alleging fault on the part of the other spouse. (There are still fault provisions such as adultery and indignities.) Under the Divorce Code, there are 2 ways to get a no-fault divorce in Pennsylvania. If b...

In January, 2011 a New Custody Law went into effect which made significant changes to the existing custody law. Many of the change simply put into law what has been the practice throughout the years. However, some of the new provisions will change the way that we handle custody cases in Pennsylva...

I have had a subscription to Thriving Family magazine since its inception about a year and a half ago and have found the magazine to be a very valuable resource. Thriving Family is a Focus on the Family publication and its purpose is to encourage, teach, celebrate and inspire families. Some of ...