Estate planning can feel overwhelming, but the questions most families have are surprisingly similar. Below are the questions we hear most often in our Murrysville office, answered in plain language by attorneys who work with Pennsylvania estate plans every day.
Frequently Asked Questions
My spouse and I have young children. What estate plan do we need?
At a minimum, you need wills that name a guardian for your children, powers of attorney for finances and healthcare, and updated beneficiary designations on any life insurance or retirement accounts. Depending on the size of your estate, a trust may also make sense to manage assets for your children until they're old enough to handle them responsibly. Without a plan, the court decides who raises your kids and a state-appointed administrator manages their inheritance — often not the person you'd choose.
What is the difference between a will and a living trust in Pennsylvania?
A will takes effect after you die and goes through probate — the court-supervised process of validating the will and distributing assets. A living trust takes effect immediately, holds your assets during your lifetime, and transfers them to your beneficiaries after death without probate. Trusts offer privacy (they're not public record), can avoid the delays and costs of probate, and provide continuity if you become incapacitated. However, a trust only works if you actually transfer your assets into it — a common and costly mistake called "failing to fund the trust."
How often should I update my estate plan?
Review your estate plan every 3 to 5 years, and immediately after any major life event: marriage, divorce, birth of a child or grandchild, death of a beneficiary or executor, significant change in assets, moving to a new state, or changes in tax law. Pennsylvania law has specific rules about how marriage and divorce affect existing wills — for example, divorce automatically revokes provisions in favor of your ex-spouse under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507, but it does not revoke beneficiary designations on life insurance or retirement accounts.
What happens to my bank accounts when I die?
It depends on how they're titled. Joint accounts with right of survivorship pass automatically to the surviving owner — no probate needed. Accounts with a payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designation pass directly to the named beneficiary. Accounts titled solely in your name with no beneficiary designation become part of your probate estate and are distributed according to your will, or Pennsylvania intestacy law if you don't have one. Getting these designations right is one of the simplest and most effective estate planning steps you can take.
Do I need a power of attorney if I'm married?
Yes. Marriage does not automatically give your spouse legal authority to manage your finances or make healthcare decisions if you become incapacitated. Without a durable power of attorney, your spouse may need to petition the court for guardianship — a time-consuming, expensive, and public process. A durable financial power of attorney (under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601) and a healthcare power of attorney give your spouse (or another trusted person) immediate authority to act on your behalf.
Can I disinherit my spouse in Pennsylvania?
Not entirely. Pennsylvania law gives a surviving spouse the right to claim an "elective share" of one-third of the deceased spouse's estate, regardless of what the will says (20 Pa.C.S. § 2203). This means even if your will leaves everything to your children or a charity, your spouse can claim one-third. The elective share can be waived through a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. You can disinherit children and other relatives in Pennsylvania — the elective share only applies to surviving spouses.
What is a pour-over will and do I need one?
A pour-over will is used in conjunction with a living trust. It acts as a safety net — any assets that were not transferred into your trust during your lifetime are "poured over" into the trust at death. Those assets still go through probate, but they ultimately end up in the trust and are distributed according to the trust's terms. If you have a living trust, you should also have a pour-over will to catch anything that slipped through the cracks.
Is a handwritten will valid in Pennsylvania?
Yes, but with important caveats. Pennsylvania recognizes holographic (handwritten) wills under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2502, as long as the will is signed by the testator. However, proving that a handwritten will is authentic — especially one without witnesses — can be difficult if anyone challenges it. The lack of witnesses also means there's no one to testify about the testator's mental state at the time of signing. A properly drafted and witnessed will is always preferable to a handwritten one.
Why does it matter if my estate planning attorney also handles probate and estate administration?
An attorney who only drafts estate plans, one who never administers them, never sees what happens when they're actually used. They don't see which provisions create confusion for executors, which trust language gets challenged by beneficiaries, or where real-world problems tend to surface. At Ament Law Group, we handle both planning and administration. The plans we write are informed by what we've seen go wrong, and by what holds up when it counts.
What are the risks of using an online form or AI to generate estate planning documents?
A form can be technically valid and practically useless. Pennsylvania's execution requirements, beneficiary designation coordination, deed titling, and trust funding are where most plans quietly fail, and those aren't things a checkbox or a download covers.
Many online services advertise "attorney reviewed" documents, by an attorney you've never met, who knows nothing about your family, and who reviewed a form your answers generated. And are they even licensed in Pennsylvania? Estate planning isn't a Mad Libs. The form is the easy part. What matters is knowing what belongs in it, what those words mean once you're gone, and whether you've asked the right questions in the first place.
Every document we prepare is drafted for that specific client and their unique circumstances. A telltale sign of a form-based will or trust is language like "State of Pennsylvania" (we are a Commonwealth) in the notary block, or a document that only allows you to name two fiduciaries because that's all the blanks the form has. Real planning doesn't limit, but responds to your needs and goals. It has provisions, or it doesn't, because your attorney made a deliberate choice.
Should I be concerned if my estate planning attorney doesn't prepare trusts?
A will is not always the right tool. Neither is a trust. The answer depends on your assets, your family, your goals, and sometimes the county you live in. An attorney who only prepares wills, or one who puts every client in a trust regardless of whether they need one, is like playing golf with only one club. Good estate planning means knowing when a trust serves you and when it doesn't, and being able to execute either. We prepare both, and we recommend what fits. This is what we mean when we say counselors, not salespeople. We're not here to sell you a trust. We're here to tell you whether you need one.