Work With a Wills and Trusts Attorney in Pittsburgh, PA, Allegheny County, and the Surrounding Counties, to Plan for Your Assets

Deciding what should happen to your assets in the future requires careful thought. You may want to establish instructions for transferring property after your death, determine how assets should be managed if you become incapacitated, or provide clear direction for the people who will carry out your wishes.

Without appropriate estate planning documents, your intentions may not be documented in a way that clearly communicates how you want your property handled.

John M. Silvestri, Esq. is a wills and trusts attorney in Pittsburgh, PA, Allegheny County, and the Surrounding Counties, who helps clients understand their options for managing and transferring assets. We begin by learning about your circumstances, property, wishes, and goals before determining which documents may be appropriate.

A will provides instructions regarding what should happen to a person’s assets after death and generally involves the probate process. A trust offers another method of holding, managing, and transferring assets based on how the trust is structured and the circumstances of the person establishing it.

Our approach is focused on making estate planning easier to understand. We explain the purpose of the documents being considered, discuss how they relate to your objectives, and create a plan based on what you want to accomplish.

Understand How Wills and Trusts Can Support Your Plans

Estate planning is personal. The documents that make sense for one individual or family may not be appropriate for another. Your assets, family circumstances, intended beneficiaries, and wishes all play a role in determining how your plan should be structured.

A will can establish instructions for distributing assets following death. Because a will generally becomes part of the probate process, it is important to understand how those instructions may be carried out when the estate is administered.

Trust planning can provide another way to hold and manage assets. Depending on the structure of the trust, it may establish instructions for how property should be managed and eventually transferred to designated beneficiaries.

Our work may include:

• Discussing your assets, circumstances, wishes, and estate planning goals.
• Explaining the purpose of wills, trusts, and related estate planning documents.
• Preparing a will that clearly reflects your intentions for your assets.
• Discussing whether trust planning may fit your circumstances and objectives.
• Establishing instructions for the management of assets placed in a trust.
• Identifying successor trustees and beneficiaries according to your wishes.
• Preparing trust documents based on the structure selected for your plan.
• Helping you understand how your estate planning documents are intended to function.

A trust can be particularly useful when someone wants assets managed according to instructions established in advance. For example, assets may be placed in a trust with designated successor trustees and beneficiaries.

When appropriately structured for the client’s circumstances, the trust can provide a mechanism for designated individuals to assume management of trust assets if the person who established the trust becomes incapacitated or dies.

The goal is to create documents that clearly communicate your intentions and provide practical direction for the people involved.

Create an Estate Plan Based on Your Circumstances and Wishes

Estate planning involves more than preparing paperwork. Before documents are drafted, it is important to understand what you own, what you want to happen to those assets, and who you want involved in carrying out your instructions.

Attorney Silvestri brings 50+ years of legal experience to these discussions. His broader background includes wills and trusts, taxation, business organization, bankruptcy reorganization, insurance, retirement plans, real estate, and financial matters.

This perspective allows us to consider your estate planning goals in the context of your individual circumstances rather than approaching each document in isolation.

As an estate planning lawyer, Attorney Silvestri focuses on helping clients understand what their documents are designed to accomplish. If a will is appropriate, we can prepare instructions for the transfer of assets through the estate. When a trust fits the client’s objectives, we can discuss how the trust may be structured and prepare the appropriate documents.

Trust preparation can also address how assets should be managed if circumstances change. By identifying successor trustees and beneficiaries in advance, a client can establish instructions regarding who will manage trust assets and who will ultimately benefit from them.

The process begins with a conversation about you. We want to understand your assets, wishes, concerns, and objectives before determining what documents should be considered.

As your wills and trusts attorney in Pittsburgh, PA, Allegheny County, and the Surrounding Counties, Attorney Silvestri can explain the available options and help create a plan that reflects what you want to accomplish. Our goal is to make what can seem like a complicated process easier to understand and provide clear direction for putting your wishes into writing.

A free initial consultation is available to discuss your circumstances and estate planning goals. Flat fee pricing is also available. We can review what you want to accomplish and determine the appropriate next steps for preparing your estate planning documents.