Klenk Law specializes in trusts, wills, estate planning, probate, and will challenges and will contests, with offices in Philadelphia, Bucks County, Allentown, New York and New Jersey.

Having an Estate Plan means that you have signed the documents that insure your wishes are fully carried out upon your death. Obviously the documents necessary in an Estate Plan will vary from person-to-person. Sometimes the Estate Plan can be carried out with a “Simple Will”, without tax or trust planning. In other cases the Estate Plan will be very complex and include, among other things, techniques to reduce estate and inheritance taxes and the creation of trusts to protect children.

Estate Planning is all we do. Our attorneys have completed advanced study in Tax and Estate Planning far beyond the typical law school education. We pride ourselves on our ability to work with you to develop an Estate Plan that is right for you. Please contact us to set up a no-cost consultation.

An Estate Plan may include some or all of the following:

Will: an instrument by which a person makes a disposition of his property, to take effect after his death.

Trust: At its most basic level, a Trust is an arrangement where one person (Trustee) holds some asset for the benefit of another person (Beneficiary). Trusts can exist in a Will, coming to life only upon the death of the person who created the Will, or a Trust may exist on its own. Trusts can be Revocable or Irrevocable, Complex or Simple. Trusts can be created for Special Needs purposes or Charitable Purposes and Trusts can vary from one page to dozens of pages.

Power of Attorney: An instrument authorizing another person to act as one’s agent. A Special Power of Attorney is for a specific purpose at a specific time, while a General Power of Attorney is very broad and normally ends only when revoked or at the grantor’s death.

Living Will or Health Care Declaration: Also known as the “pull-the-plug” document, this document appoints a person to decide along with your doctor if life sustaining efforts on your behalf should cease or continue.

Temporary Guardianship: This document appoints a guardian for your child if both yourself and the other parent are unable to continue caring for the child. For example, if both parents are temporarily incapacitated because of a car accident, this person immediately has the right to authorize medical care for your child. Your Will may name a guardian that takes over at your death, but the Will has no power if you are not dead. This temporary guardianship document fills that void.

IRA Trusts: Required as an option for all 401Ks and IRAs after 2006, the IRA Trust allows you to have your 401K or IRA held for the benefit of a child or other person at your death, defer the recognition of income tax over that person’s lifetime, but not surrender control of the IRA or 401K to the beneficiary.

Irrevocable Insurance Trust: Allows you to remove your life insurance from your Taxable Estate and protect the money from creditors and future estate and inheritance taxes.