Personalized and Affordable Estate Planning

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.

Revocable Living Trust - For some families, having a revocable living trust in place may serve as an alternative to a Will.  While it is generally true that a revocable living trust may be private and help you avoid probate, it does not exempt you from creditors, notification requirements, or tax obligations.

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 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, and address other legal matters to ensure the proper administration of the estate.

In addition, we will help you submit federal and state income and inheritance tax returns, as well as file fiduciary income tax returns where the "estate" generates income.  

To facilitate our Estate Planning and Administration legal practice, we provide a wide-range of related services to help meet our clients needs.  These services include:

• Resolving Deed/Title Issues
• Reviewing Life Insurance Policies and Beneficiary Designations
• Transferring Personal Property
• Negotiating with Creditors
• Reviewing Real Estate Transactions
• Mediating Partitioned Real Estate
• Funeral and Burial Instructions
• Medicaid Eligibility Assessment
• Heir Search
• Notary Services
• Special Needs Trusts
• Pet Trusts

John S. Morabito is a solo practitioner specializing in estate planning and administration.  He also serves as Hearing Partition Officer in the Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County, PA.

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.  Last year, 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, South Philadelphia Business Association, Philadelphia Estate Planning Council, and Pennsylvania Association of Realtors.  He works in South Philadelphia.