This is a question that we receive all of the time in our office. The answer is that you could have personal liability as an executor because there may be ways to avoid probate if you understand it and plan ahead.Probate is merely the Commonwealths rule book and the process that you must go through if there is an asset in a persons sole name at the time of their death. This excludes jointly held accounts and accounts with a beneficiary designation on the account. Probate is not good or bad. It is simply the process the Commonwealth requires us to follow in order to properly distribute assets to beneficiaries.A personal representative, also known as an executor (or executrix if they are female), if they are named in a Will, or an administrator if they are taking authority under the intestate succession under the statute, is personally liable to the beneficiaries and to the government to properly administer the estate, make certain all debts and expenses of the decedent are paid, pay all inheritance tax and other taxes owed and to distribute the remainder of the assets to the beneficiaries pursuant to the Will or the intestate statute. A personal representative must understand the entire process and all of the legal requirements that the Commonwealth imposes, such as notices to heirs, notices to creditors, advertising of the appointment of a personal representative and filing with the Orphans Court, Register of Wills certifications and notices as items are completed or when the estate is complete. There is also a requirement for a Pennsylvania inheritance tax to be prepared and filed and, in some cases, a fiduciary income tax return as well. If any of these steps are not properly completed and a beneficiary, a government entity, or a charity receives less money than what they were entitled to there can and will be personal liability imputed on the personal representative.It is essential to understand this liability to make a decision as to whether to hire an attorney to assist in the process. There is very little upside to not hiring a professional but a lot of potential downsides to not doing so, and therefore, typically, it is a much smarter decision to engage an attorney to assist you.Probate can be avoided by either making an asset jointly owned or designating a beneficiary for that asset. However, before somebody makes an asset jointly owned or designates a beneficiary for an asset they should understand the legal implications of doing so as there may be considerations beyond probate in doing so. Remember jointly owned assets or assets with designated beneficiaries dont avoid inheritance tax, only probate is avoided.If you have any questions concerning probate or whether you need to probate please call the office at (717) 844-9218 or visit our website at www.bellomoassociates.com

As one of my new favorite YouTube soap-making friends, Katie Carson of Royalty Soaps, would say, lets make some soap!What exactly do you need to make soap?Pretty simple ingredients it turns out.  Distilled water, lye, and olive oil will get you a basic Castile soap.  This type of soap was made famous by the city of Castile in Spain.  Because this soap uses only olive oil it takes a long, long time to cure.  The best Castile soaps are aged for a year or more.  So for those of us who are impatient, there are other oils that you can add to make your soap cure more quickly because they are hard versus the liquid olive oil.  The most frequently used of these hard oils are coconut oil and palm oil.  You can find many recipes online that use only olive oil and coconut oil which you can purchase at the grocery store or Sams Club or lard can be used as well and is pretty easy to find.  And you can use a cardboard box lined with freezer paper for a mold so you can get started pretty inexpensively. The process is simple.  You mix lye with distilled water in a prescribed proportion, melt your hard oils and mix them with your liquid oils, again a prescribed ratio, and mix the lye water into your oils until it reaches trace or thickens (but not too much, about the consistency of thin pudding) and pour into a mold.  Let it sit until is saponified, about 24 hours, remove it from the mold, cut, and cure for 6 weeks and, voila, you have soap.Easy right?Yes, it actually is pretty easy but it takes some practice to make sure you mix it enough but not too much.  And this isnt like your grandmothers or great-grandmothers lye soap which could just about eat through your skin.  You have the advantage of being able to purchase lye and measure it in exact amounts to produce a good product every time. The lye soap most people remember was harsh because folks made their own lye solution by boiling ashes from a hardwood fire in rainwater, allowing the ashes to settle to the bottom and skimming the liquid lye off the top.  Using that method you had no way of knowing the concentration of the lye so many times it was too strong.  But the fun part, the part that made me want to make soap, is all of the colors and fragrances you can use in your soap.  And how you can mix the colors to make patterns and scenes or just the happy accidents in mixing colors that can happen.   There are also many other oils you can experiment with to make your soap more moisturizing or have a different consistency and many other things.  There is actually a lot of science behind soap.  Maybe if we had made soap in chemistry class in school I would have been much more interested!Check out Royalty Soaps Creative Academy on YouTube if you want to try your hand at soap making, it is a free series of video tutorials.  You can find lots of pictures online of the awesome soaps people have created.  The one included here is a picture of one of mine!

Selling your items is a big commitment, but you can get cash for your things. There are a lot of options out there, but this article will focus on three separate ways to get your possessions sold: Online sales Auction salesEstate sales Online SalesFrom Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to Next Door and Ebay, there are a variety of ways you can sell everything from furniture to clothing. You have to do the work which includes posting your items with photos and a description, setting a price and dealing with questions from interested buyers. This takes some time and you should be cautious about who you are meeting if you agree to sell something to a stranger.  Auction SalesAuctions sales are an easy way for someone else to do the work for you. You can choose to have an auctioneer come to your home and hold a sale on your property if you have enough possessions. The advantage to using an auction house is that they have experience with what is popular and sells well. Plus, people follow certain auction houses which can bring an automatic audience for the sale.  Estate SalesEstate sales are a way to clear almost everything out of a home. Typically, estate sales are used when someone needs to move out quickly or after a death of the homeowner. Estate sale professionals can charge you several different ways such as one price for the entire sale or a portion of the proceeds. Make sure you understand all the terms upfront and look for someone who is bonded and insured since people will be on your property.  WayForth can help you or a family member with our comprehensive moving solutions including downsizing, space planning, packing and moving, and unpacking, and settling in your set-up in a new home, contact our moving professionals today at 817-697-4478 or go to our website to learn more! 

Protecting your health and well-being is a top priority, especially as we get older. One important way to safeguard yourself is by creating a health care power of attorney document. This legal document designates a trusted individual to make health care decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. But as important as creating this document is, its not enough to simply have it you also need to make sure its in the right hands.A recent story shared by a friend highlights just how critical it is to ensure your healthcare power of attorney is given to the appropriate parties. In this case, a woman was acting as the power of attorney for her mother but didnt have the document on hand when her mother needed medical attention. The hospital demanded the document immediately, and in the chaos of the moment, the daughter ended up agreeing to have her mother fill out a new one on the spot.The problem arose when the nurse asked who should be listed as a power of attorney. The daughter suggested including herself and her mothers husband, who had raised her and was like a father to her. But her mother insisted that only her daughter be listed, causing tension and awkwardness between the family members. It was a situation that could have been avoided if the daughter had simply provided the existing document to the hospital.This story underscores the importance of not only creating a healthcare power of attorney but also ensuring that it is given to the appropriate parties. At Bellomo & Associates, we urge our clients to not only create these documents but to also provide copies to their doctors and keep them on file at hospitals. We provide extra copies so family members can have them as well. Taking these steps can help you avoid any unnecessary stress or heartache should an emergency situation arise.Creating a healthcare power of attorney is a smart move, but its only half the battle. To ensure that your wishes are carried out properly, its crucial to share the document with your healthcare providers and loved ones. Dont let a lack of preparation cause unnecessary tension or problems for your family take the necessary steps to protect yourself and your loved ones.Please give us a call at 717-845-5390 and well set you up with a free consultation or register for a free workshop by clicking here.