Is a Will really necessary?
This is a question that we are often asked by clients who are new to the estate planning process. In short, the answer to the question is “YES” you need a Will. Why do you need a Will? The reasons are many and varied.

Let us begin by dispelling a common misconception regarding dying without a Will. Contrary to what many have heard, if you die without a Will, all of your assets will not pass immediately to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. However, what will happen is your assets will be distributed in accordance with the intestacy laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which basically set forth which of your relatives and in what order your relatives will inherit your estate. If you had prepared a Will, you would have made the decision as to where your assets were distributed.

A second reason for preparing a Will deals with the selection of an executor. An executor is the person you nominate in your Will who will be responsible for gathering all of your assets upon your death, paying all of your bills and taxes and properly distributing your assets in accordance with the provisions in your Will. Again, absent a Will nominating an executor, Pennsylvania law will determine who will handle the above tasks and the person(s) authorized under these laws may not be to your liking.

Yet another reason for preparing a Will is the nomination of guardians for minor children. If you have minor children, you have the option of nominating guardians to look after your children in the event that you pass away. There have been many cases in the past where guardians were not named for minor children and the parents subsequently pass away.
Often times a contentious legal battle will ensue between relatives of the minor children for guardianship. By simply addressing the issue in your Will, you can head off many of these battles before they even begin.

The above reasons are but a small sampling of the reasons for preparing a Will. Attorney Kessler has prepared hundreds of estate documents and is more than happy to consult with you regarding your personal situation. Call us to set up a time prepare your estate documents.

What are Powers of Attorney?

Simply put, Powers of Attorney are documents prepared by a person wherein they grant certain powers to another individual to act on their behalf. For example, you can prepare a Power of Attorney that nominates someone to handle your banking and financial matters in an instance where you can no longer handle these matters on your own due to mental and/or physical incapacity. There are multiple types of Powers of Attorney including, but not limited to, Health Care Powers of Attorney and Financial Powers of Attorney.

Powers of Attorney are integral elements of any estate plan and should be considered carefully. To discuss the benefits of Powers of Attorney with Attorney Kessler, call our office to set up a consultation.

The period of time immediately following the death of a loved one is very difficult. Attorney Kessler compassionately assists his clients during this period of grieving to properly administer the estate of the deceased. Administering an estate is a fairly broad concept that encompasses many tasks including probating the deceased’s Last Will and Testament, marshalling assets, identifying estate liabilities and working with the executor to arrange for payment of same and the preparation of multiple documents including, but not limited to, the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax return (PA REV 1500).

If you have recently lost someone special, please feel free to contact our office to determine how we might be able to assist you during this difficult time.

At Kessler Law Offices, LLC we understand that family law issues are often extremely difficult and emotionally draining even in the best of circumstances. We are dedicated to compassionately assisting our clients in navigating through these challenging times in the most comfortable manner while aggressively working to ensure that our clients obtain the best legal result possible.

Divorce

Have you been served with divorce papers? Do you feel that you need to file for divorce in order to move forward with your life? We have the experience to assist you with even the most challenging of issues that may arise as part of a divorce proceeding from equitably distributing a family owned business to competently handling the frequently occurring situation where the parties’ debts significantly outweigh the assets that they own. In handling divorce matters, Attorney Kessler assists clients in dealing with the stress and pain associated with divorce matters while at the same time offering creative solutions to the problems and conflicts that are often present.

Child Custody

There is no more contentious area of the law than child custody. We understand that even the thought of being separated from your children for an extended period of time is overwhelmingly painful. We have been representing parents in custody matters for many years and we will work diligently to obtain the most favorable child custody arrangement for our clients. If possible, we will work directly with the other parent, or their attorney if they are represented, in an attempt to negotiate an acceptable child custody order. However, if we cannot reach an agreement with the opposing party, we will aggressively represent our clients’ interests in Court to ensure that the best interests of the minor children are adequately protected and reflected in the final custody order

Support

Child support and spousal support are often requested and awarded by the Court prior to the initiation of a divorce proceeding. The initiation of these types of monetary support is not conditioned on the filing of a divorce.  However, calculating support obligations and ensuring that the proper support orders are entered by the Court is a sophisticated legal process. Pennsylvania law contains many complex rules that set forth when support should be awarded and how the amount of support is to be determined. We will take all the steps necessary to ensure that your support is calculated properly whether you are the obligor (person owing support) or the obligee (person owed support).

Regardless of your family law issue, contact us to set up a consultation to discuss your case. You can reach us at 610-385-1090.  It is our goal to compassionately help you through your divorce, custody and support issues and to assist you on focusing on the future.

Kessler Law Offices, L.L.C. is dedicated to providing aggressive and compassionate legal representation to individuals who have been injured through no fault of their own. Personal injury cases that we handle include, but are not limited to:

• Car Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Slip and Falls
• Pedestrian Accidents
• Dog/Animal Bites
• Wrongful Death

In personal injury cases, insurance companies often do whatever they can in order to persuade unrepresented individuals to settle their claims for less than they deserve. This isn’t fair. If you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you are entitled to be fairly compensated for your injuries. However, unless you are represented by an experienced attorney, the insurance companies are not likely to take you seriously. Once we become involved with your case we will aggressively work to negotiate a prompt and fair settlement with the insurance company or the at-fault party. If the insurance company or at-fault party will not negotiate a fair settlement, we will take your case to Court and we will work to obtain the highest possible award on your behalf.

You should not allow the insurance companies to take advantage of you! Let Attorney Kessler handle the insurance companies while you concentrate on nursing yourself back to good health. Call us at 610-385-1090 to set up a FREE CONSULTATION to discuss your case.

Did you know that under Pennsylvania law a child can only have one legal mother and father at any given time? This often becomes an issue when a child’s biological parents end their relationship with one another and one of the biological parents marries a different person. Many times a biological parent and their new spouse desire to make their family complete by having the new spouse adopt the child. This raises significant legal issues due to the fact that the child already has two “legal parents.” An adoption in such a situation can only happen if there is a termination of parental rights of one of the “legal parents” so that the new spouse can take over the role of “legal parent.” At Kessler Law Offices, L.L.C. we will guide you through complex adoption issues such as the one described above.

Another consideration pertaining to adoption relates to who is responsible for supporting a minor child. Through the process of adoption, an adoptive parent gains all of the rights, responsibilities and obligations of the minor child’s natural biological parent. This means that following an adoption, the adoptive parent will have the right to make important decisions pertaining to the minor child dealing with subjects such as religion, medical treatment, education and other issues relating to the child’s upbringing.  Similarly, an adopted child gains the rights, responsibilities and obligations of a natural child of the adoptive parent. Therefore, the adopted child would be entitled to inherit from the adoptive parent as a natural child and the adopted child may request and collect child support from the adoptive parent if that parent does not properly support the child.

To learn more about adoption and how we can assist you in completing the adoption process, contact our office at 610-385-1090.

Unfortunately, sometimes situations arise that render an individual unable to adequately make decisions for themselves.  Such situations can arise due to many reasons including,  but not limited to, (1) a person being born with cognitive impairments (i.e. Down’s Syndrome, etc.), (2) a person suffering incapacity due to a significant medical condition (i.e. stroke, head trauma, cancer, etc.) and (3) a person suffering from an age-related incapacity such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or similar condition.

In situations where a person is unable to make decisions for themselves, it may be  necessary to formally request that the Court appoint a guardian to make decisions for them. There are multiple types of guardianships that may be applicable to any given situation including:

• Plenary Guardianship – In a plenary guardianship, an appointed guardian is given the full authority to make decisions which may be necessary for the incapacitated individual.
• Limited Guardianship – In a limited guardianship, an appointed guardian’s authority to make decisions is limited as set forth in the Court’s order granting the guardianship.
• Emergency Guardianship – In an emergency guardianship, the Court appoints a guardian for a limited  period of time in order to deal with an existing emergency.
• Standby Guardianship – A less common form of guardianship in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a standby guardianship. Under Pennsylvania’s Standby Guardianship Act, a procedure is set forth that allows for a parent or guardian to designate a standby guardian for his or her minor children upon the occurrence of a triggering event. A “triggering event” is defined under the aforementioned Act as a “specified occurrence which empowers a  standby guardian to assume the powers, duties and responsibilities of guardian or co-guardian.” Such a triggering event might be a “death”, an “incapacity” or an “absence from Pennsylvania for more than two weeks.” Such a standby guardianship does not divest a minor child’s parent(s) from any of their parental rights or obligations.

If you have questions as to whether a guardianship might be appropriate in any given situation, contact Kessler Law Offices, L.L.C. to speak with an experienced and qualified attorney.

Are you an entrepreneur ready to form your new business? Do you want to start a new business but are unsure which type of business entity to form (i.e. corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, professional corporation, etc.)? Do you own an existing business and require legal counsel about the multitude of issues that can arise in today’s quickly changing business environment? Are you exploring the idea of selling or purchasing a business?

Kessler Law Offices, L.L.C. can offer you legal counsel on all of the above issues as well as many more. Attorney Kessler has served as legal counsel to multiple business entities from non-profit corporations and subchapter C corporations to the sole proprietorships. If you have business related issues, contact our office to set up a consultation with Attorney Kessler.

Buying and selling real estate is usually the largest transactions that individuals or couples will make during their lifetimes. The process can sometimes be daunting and it often involves the completion of multiple complex and legalistic documents including, but not limited to, agreements of sale, mortgages, notes, affidavits, settlement sheets, bills of sale and many others. For the inexperienced, this can be a very stressful time. It is important that you have someone looking out for your best interests.

Allow Kessler Law Offices, L.L.C. to provide you with some peace of mind during this stressful time. Please contact Attorney Kessler to set up a consultation at 610-385-1090.

The landlord/tenant relationship is often the source of heated conflict. Kessler Law Offices, L.L.C. has the experience and expertise to represent you whether you are a landlord or a tenant.

If you are a landlord, you probably already know that tenants often decide to vacate a rented premises during the midst of a lease term or simply decide that they are not going to pay rent any longer. In such situations, landlords frequently suffer financially as they are not collecting monthly rents in accordance with a signed lease and therefore many times cannot make monthly mortgage and/or utility payments on the leased premises. In such situations, landlords are generally left with no choice but to seek an eviction and/or damages from their tenants. These matters are generally handled at the Magisterial District Judge level and Attorney Kessler is experienced in guiding landlords through the process of dealing with lease-breaching tenants the “correct” way.

Additionally, landlords are often unfamiliar with the laws that apply to landlord/tenant relationships. One such law is Pennsylvania’s Plain Language Consumer Contract Act, 73 P.S.§§ 2201-2212. This law was passed by the legislature due to the fact that many consumer contracts, including residential leases, were being drafted in such a way so that a normal, every day person could not understand its terms and conditions. Under the Plain Language Consumer Contract Act, landlords are now required to draft their leases in accordance with the plain language guidelines set forth in that Act. If a landlord fails to comply with this requirement, the landlord can be liable to a tenant for:  (1) compensation in an amount equal to the value of any actual loss caused by the violation of the Act; (2) statutory damages equal to $100.00; (3) court costs; (4) reasonable attorneys fees and (5) any equitable or other relief ordered by the Court. Attorney Kessler can assist you in reviewing and revising your current leases and/or drafting new leases that comply with the requirements set forth in this law.

Attorney Kessler has also represented multiple tenants in wrongful eviction actions as well as other landlord/tenant matters. Pennsylvania law offers many protections to residential tenants; however, if a tenant does not “follow the rules” in implementing these protections the tenant may find themselves on the losing end of a law suit. For example, there are times when I tenant can withhold rent but this can only be done in very specific situations and the manner in which rent is withheld is important. If you are a tenant and feel that your landlord is not operating in accordance with Pennsylvania landlord/tenant law, contact Attorney Kessler and he will be more than willing to consult with you about your issues.

Attorney Kessler has extensive experience in representing litigants in professional negligence cases. For years he has represented physicians, physician practice groups, medical facilities and hospitals in complex medical malpractice cases from the initial pleadings through jury trial. Additionally, Attorney Kessler has served as a consultant to other insurance defense firms over the years where his expertise and knowledge in civil litigation, professional negligence matters and medicine have assisted those firms in obtaining outstanding results including multiple defense verdicts.

If you are an insurance company or a third party administrator looking for qualified and experienced legal counsel to represent your insureds, please contact us so that we can provide you will more information regarding the services that we provide.

Both individuals and businesses rely heavily on contracts and the laws governing contracts as they participate in every day activities. Attorney Kessler has represented multiple clients over the years with a wide variety of contractual matters including contract drafting, review and negotiation. The following are a sampling of the types of issues that have been presented by our clients:

• Preparing a contract to sell a motor vehicle to another individual or business
• Contracts involving home improvement including swimming pool installations, fence installations, landscaping, etc.
• Contracts relating to business transactions between family members.
• Contracts relating to security monitoring systems and monitoring services.
• Business contracts relating to the purchase of inventory, etc.

As you may be aware, the types and forms of contracts that exist are countless. However, regardless of the issue, Attorney Kessler would be happy to consult with you. Feel free to contact our office to set up an appointment to discuss your issue.