Estates & Trusts · Pittsburgh

You Need a Will and an Estate Plan. And a Lawyer Who Knows What Happens When Something Goes Wrong.

By Stephen H. Lebovitz, Esquire · Estates & Trusts · Pittsburgh, PA

Estate disputes arrive faster than anyone expects. An executor who stops communicating. A trustee who cannot explain where the money went. A will that does not say what the family thought it said. A power of attorney that was never signed. Each of these is a different problem with a different answer. Every topic we handle in Pennsylvania estate planning and probate is listed below, organized by the situation that sends people looking.

Planning & Document Control

Estate planning failures are rarely drafting failures. They are coordination failures. A will, a power of attorney, and beneficiary designations that were never reviewed together create gaps that a court fills after death, not before.

Probate Administration & Tax Exposure

Pennsylvania inheritance tax attaches at death and cannot be avoided after the fact. An executor who distributes before reserving for tax, or misses the three-month discount window, creates a personal liability problem that the estate cannot correct.

Fiduciary Misconduct & Estate Litigation

An executor who delays, conceals assets, or refuses to account to beneficiaries is breaching a fiduciary duty enforceable through Orphans’ Court. Waiting narrows the available remedies and gives the executor more time to move assets.

Advanced Protection & Specialized Planning

A personal injury settlement deposited without planning can cost an SSI recipient all benefits before anyone realizes the problem. Business succession, Medicaid planning, and inherited property each require coordination that goes beyond a standard will.

Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. · Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, near the Parkway East. Serving Allegheny County and southwestern Pennsylvania since 1933.

Stephen H. Lebovitz is an estate planning and probate attorney in Pittsburgh who represents executors, beneficiaries, and trustees in Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court proceedings and advises families on estate planning, trust administration, and inheritance tax matters.

Estate Planning · Pittsburgh

The Documents That Protect Your Family Require a Signature Before the Need Arrives.

Whether you are building a plan from scratch, updating documents after a life change, or administering an estate, the right time to act is before the need defines your options.

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Estate Planning & Probate

Every estate planning and probate question has a different answer depending on when you ask it. The planning that happens before the crisis determines what options remain after it.