ESTATE PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION
Estate Planning – Estate planning is essential to take care of your family, protect your assets, and minimize income and/or inheritance taxes. We will review your assets (home, retirement accounts, bank accounts, personal belongings, and other items), assess how these assets are titled, and develop a plan for how they should be distribut
Estate Planning – Estate planning is essential to take care of your family, protect your assets, and minimize income and/or inheritance taxes. We will review your assets (home, retirement accounts, bank accounts, personal belongings, and other items), assess how these assets are titled, and develop a plan for how they should be distributed after the owner passes away.
Will – For most families and individuals, it is essential to have a properly signed and executed Last Will and Testament. A will gives you control over when and how your assets will be distributed. It also gives you an opportunity to address special issues such as naming guardians for minor children, establishing a testamentary trust, leaving money to charity, and other ways to distribute property. Note, if you decide not to have a will, your assets will be distributed according to state intestacy laws which may not be consistent with your specific intent.
Financial Power of Attorney – In the event that you become incapacitated or unable to manage your financial affairs, a Financial Power of Attorney permits you to identify a trusted person to manage your financial affairs.
Health Care Power of Attorney – In the event that you become unable to speak for yourself regarding your medical decisions, a Health Care Power of Attorney (also known as an Advance Medical Directive) permits you to identify an individual to speak on your behalf subject to the guidelines that you have established..
Estate Administration – Regardless of whether one dies with or without a will, most often an estate will need to be opened with the local Register of Wills. By opening an estate, process known as "probate," you can have an orderly way to legally distribute and re-title assets, provide notices, identify assets, pay debts, pay taxes, and p
Estate Administration – Regardless of whether one dies with or without a will, most often an estate will need to be opened with the local Register of Wills. By opening an estate, process known as "probate," you can have an orderly way to legally distribute and re-title assets, provide notices, identify assets, pay debts, pay taxes, and perform other tasks required by law. Often, the process can be complicated, with legal deadlines, and it may not be something you want to handle on your own.
In particular, we will help you comply with local requirements established by the Register of Wills, provide legal notices to creditors and beneficiaries, transfer title to real property, distribute assets pursuant to a will or intestate laws, pay federal and state taxes, as well as inheritance taxes, and address other legal matters to ensure the proper administration of the estate.
Transferring Property –
Transferring title to real property often is an essential component of estate planning. It is also very important to know and understand how your real property, such as a house, is titled. We can help you review your ownership interests in real property, draft deeds, record deeds, and submit real estate transfer tax documents as part of your overall estate plan.
Other Services
Pet Trusts
Notary Services
Ethical Wills
All states in the United States have enacted pet trust laws. In general, these laws permit owners of pets to establish a trust to help fund and care for them after the owner passes away. This planning document or provision is essential for individuals that may not have close relatives or friends with the financial resources to care for a pet and helps prevent pets being placed in a shelter.
Ethical Wills
Notary Services
Ethical Wills
An "ethical will" is a letter, message, video, or other informal way to share your lifelong values with those you care about. It is meant to be a heartfelt expression of what truly matters most in your life -- an attempt to transfer an intangible legacy of values, principals, life lessons, beliefs, and words of appreciation to your fam
An "ethical will" is a letter, message, video, or other informal way to share your lifelong values with those you care about. It is meant to be a heartfelt expression of what truly matters most in your life -- an attempt to transfer an intangible legacy of values, principals, life lessons, beliefs, and words of appreciation to your family and friends.
An ethical will is not a legally binding document, nor is it something that is meant to confer legal rights or be enforced.
Notary Services
Notary Services
Notary Services
To facilitate your estate planning goals, certain documents (such as a will) should be notarized by a Notary Public at the time the documents are being signed. We perform notarial acts in Philadelphia for a nominal fee. Upon request, we also may notarize other legal documents, such as deeds, mortgages, affidavits, commercial leases, and contracts.
Additional estate planning information
American Bar Association
Philadelphia Register of Wills
American Society for the Prevention and Cruelty to Animals
ABOUT MORABITO LAW, LLC
Experience
John S. Morabito is a solo practitioner specializing in estate planning and administration. John has over thirty years of legal experience and is admitted to practice law in several states, including Pennsylvania, as well as being admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court.
John has an extensive legal background. H
John S. Morabito is a solo practitioner specializing in estate planning and administration. John has over thirty years of legal experience and is admitted to practice law in several states, including Pennsylvania, as well as being admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court.
John has an extensive legal background. He has served as a federal official, policy advisor, corporate attorney, and general counsel of a non-profit organization. Currently, he helps families in Philadelphia with their estate planning needs, and assists with probating estates (with or without a will). His services include drafting wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies, and pet trusts. Probate services include working with the Register of Wills to administer estates for deceased individuals.
John also volunteers at Philadelphia VIP www.phillyvip.org a nonprofit organization helping low-income families in Philadelphia have access to legal services on a pro bono basis. Recently, he was selected as Volunteer of the Month. https://www.phillyvip.org/blog/2024/06/john-morabito/
John is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, and South Philadelphia Business Association. He works in South Philadelphia.