Wills & Trusts

Our Central Pennsylvania law office will prepare your Last Will and Testament, Living Will-Health Care Declaration, and Durable Power of Attorney, which will be tailored to your individual needs and goals.

We also specialize in Elder Law, including Irrevocable Grantor Trusts to protect your home and other assets from inheritance taxes and nursing home liens. We will meet with you in our Central Pennsylvania office, or in your home if that is more convenient.

Last Will and Testament

This document contains your instructions to your personal representative, or Executor, on how you wish your assets to be distributed upon your death. You may also indicate who you wish to raise your minor children or whether you wish to have a service or viewing or a cremation. You can also direct that a testamentary trust be created for the benefit of minor children or a child with special needs.

Attorney Gardner will meet with you in his Central Pennsylvania office, or in your home, to discuss your estate and to tailor your last Will and Testament to your specific needs and desires. Once created, your Will can be changed or modified over time by a document called a codicil.

Living Will-Health Care Declaration

This is a document that contains instructions to health care providers as to what treatment you wish to receive, or not to receive, in the event of your incapacitation due to an injury or medical event that is permanent and irreversible, such as a coma. You can request to be allowed to die with dignity rather than kept alive by machines, feeding tubes and other invasive measures that only prolong your suffering.

Durable Power of Attorney

This is a document that allows another to act in your behalf in the event you are incapacitated or merely unavailable. It allows your power of attorney to make financial and medical decisions on your behalf and to sign legal documents including deeds and mortgages, sign checks, collect rents and to act on your behalf as to any matter whatsoever unless the document directs otherwise. It can be tailored to your individual needs and can be revoked by you at any time.

Irrevocable Grantor Trust

The Irrevocable Grantor Trust is an asset protection device used to protect your home and other assets from inheritance taxes and nursing home and Medicaid liens. Once the trust document is prepared, your home and any other assets, including money, are conveyed to the trust. The trust now owns the assets and the conveyance is irrevocable. You may still live in your home as long as you wish or the home can be sold by your trustee if you wish to leave. The benefit is that after one year passes, there is no inheritance tax due upon your death. After five years, no nursing home liens or Medicaid liens can be enforced on the assets of the trust assuming you do not receive any of those services during the five-year period. Upon your death, the assets of the trust are distributed to the beneficiaries of the trust free and clear of all liens and taxes.

Attorney Gardner has the experience and expertise necessary to tailor a trust to suit your specific needs and ensure that your assets are protected. We work with clients in the Central Pennsylvania area.