Monthly Archives: March 2011

Family Law Update: Changes in Custody Laws

In November 2010, former Governor Rendell signed a new custody law that went into effect in January of this year.  The purpose of the new law is to modernize custody laws in the Commonwealth, which most practitioners agreed were long outdated, and to create a… Continue reading

It is Time to Review Your Estate Plan

 Good news.   As you may know, the Internal Revenue Code has recently been revised, and in the case of the Estate Tax, the changes are substantial.   The amount of the individual exclusion which was scheduled to be $1,000,000 in 2011 was increased to… Continue reading

A Sanitary Education

  Many of us who migrated from the cities to the suburbs and beyond had no knowledge of “sewers”except when we were fishing out rubber balls that disappeared into them.   When I moved into my first home in the outer suburbs, I do not… Continue reading

Post Death Capital Gains and the December Tax Legislation

In December 17 of last year President Obama signed into existence the “Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Authorization and Job Creation Act of 2010” to clarify the uncertainties surrounding the future of the federal estate tax – at least for the next two years.  As outlined… Continue reading

Joint Bank Account Law – Back to the Future

In our Spring 2010 issue we reviewed two significant Pennsylvania Superior Court decisions about joint ownership of bank accounts.  In that article we described how the Superior Court had decided, in particular instances, that the terms of a will could override the survivorship features that… Continue reading

The Queen’s English – So Big!

It is monosyllabic and tiny.  But it packs its own kind of punch and is infinitely versatile.  It can be an adverb, an adjective, a conjunction, or a pronoun.  It is just so.           As an adverb it must modify a verb, an… Continue reading

Slip and Fall Injuries

The winter of 2010-2011 will probably go down as one of our worst, especially for injuries caused by falls on the ice.  Falls can occur on sidewalks, driveways, parking lots – all of the public places where we walk.  Injuries from these falls can range… Continue reading