Estate Planning & Probate Lawyers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia & Ohio
A good estate plan is not just a stack of documents. It is a plan for who makes decisions, what happens to your property, how your family is protected and how much uncertainty you leave behind. When someone dies, we also help families move estates through probate with clearer scope, practical guidance and structured pricing.
Plan for the Decisions Your Family May Otherwise Have to Make for You
Estate planning is often treated as something people can deal with later. The problem is that incapacity, illness, death, business transitions and family emergencies rarely arrive on a convenient schedule.
A thoughtful estate plan helps answer the questions that become difficult when there is no longer time to make decisions: Who manages your finances? Who makes healthcare decisions? Who receives your property? Who handles your estate? What happens to a business? How should assets be transferred?
The goal is not simply to produce documents. The goal is to build a plan around your family, property, business interests, risks and actual objectives.
Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney & More
Estate planning can be straightforward or sophisticated depending on your family, assets, business interests and goals.
Wills
Direct how probate property should pass, identify beneficiaries, nominate fiduciaries and create a clearer plan for administration.
See Will & Estate Plan Pricing →Trust Planning
Revocable and irrevocable trusts for probate avoidance, continuity, privacy, controlled distributions and other planning objectives.
Explore Trust Planning →Financial Powers of Attorney
Authorize someone you trust to handle financial and legal matters if you become unable to act for yourself.
Build an Estate Plan →Healthcare Planning
Healthcare powers of attorney, living wills and related directives addressing medical decision-making and your wishes.
Explore Planning Options →Business Succession Planning
Coordinate business ownership, management transitions, buy-sell planning and long-term succession with the estate plan.
Explore Business Planning →Probate Avoidance Planning
Review trusts, beneficiary designations, ownership structures and other tools that may reduce unnecessary probate exposure.
Explore Probate-Avoidance Planning →Real Estate Planning
Coordinate homes, farms, rental properties and multistate real estate with the broader estate plan.
Discuss Property Planning →Complex Planning
Planning involving businesses, farms, mineral interests, oil and gas royalties, blended families, multistate assets and customized trust structures.
Discuss Advanced Planning →Know What the Plan Is Designed to Do and What It Is Likely to Cost
Not every client needs a trust. Not every family needs the same documents. Our estate-planning pricing model begins with the family, assets, risks and goals, then matches the work to the plan.
Revocable vs. Irrevocable Trusts
A trust is a tool, not a goal. The right structure depends on what you are actually trying to accomplish and what tradeoffs make sense.
Revocable Living Trusts
A revocable trust generally allows the person creating it to retain substantial control during life while creating a structure for management and distribution of assets.
- Potential probate avoidance for funded assets
- Continuity during incapacity
- Greater privacy than ordinary probate
- Flexible lifetime control
- Coordinated distribution after death
Irrevocable Trusts
Irrevocable trusts generally involve giving up more control and should be used when a specific planning objective justifies that tradeoff.
- Long-term family wealth planning
- Asset-protection strategies where appropriate
- Controlled distributions
- Specialized tax or benefit planning
- Advanced estate-planning objectives
Estate Planning Gets More Important When the Assets Produce Income
Closely held businesses, farms, rental properties, mineral interests, oil and gas royalties and other income-producing assets raise issues that ordinary will-based planning may not adequately address.
Planning may need to coordinate trusts, LLC interests, governance, management rights, succession, gifting strategies, tax considerations and the practical question of who will operate or control assets later.
When Someone Dies, the Work Often Begins
Probate can involve court filings, fiduciary responsibilities, property, creditor claims, taxes, beneficiaries, distributions and deadlines. The goal is to give executors and administrators a clear path from opening the estate through final distribution.
Open the Estate
Initial filings, probate of a will where applicable and appointment of the executor or administrator.
Identify Assets
Determine what belongs to the estate, what passes outside probate and what must be valued or administered.
Address Creditors
Required notices, claims, debts and other financial obligations.
Manage the Estate
Property, accounts, beneficiaries, tax coordination, fiduciary duties and ongoing administration.
Distribute & Close
Complete distributions, required accounting or closing work and move the estate toward conclusion.
Choose the Level of Help the Estate Needs
A larger estate is not automatically a harder estate. Our probate pricing focuses heavily on the amount and complexity of the legal work rather than simply applying one percentage to every estate.
Probate Administration and Probate Litigation Are Different Matters
Ordinary probate administration involves administering the estate. A dispute over a will, fiduciary, accounting, inheritance or property may move the matter into contested litigation and require a different strategy and fee arrangement.
Estate Planning & Probate in Pennsylvania, West Virginia & Ohio
Pennsylvania
Estate planning and qualifying probate matters throughout Western Pennsylvania, including Washington, Butler, Beaver, Allegheny and surrounding counties.
West Virginia
Estate planning and probate resources for Wheeling, Ohio County, Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Wetzel, Monongalia and other qualifying West Virginia matters.
Ohio
Estate planning and qualifying probate representation for clients and estates in Ohio, including matters involving multistate families, businesses and assets.
Start With the Question You Need Answered
Start Your Estate Plan Virtually
Estate planning should not require repeatedly taking time away from work, family or other obligations just to sit in a conference room. Many planning meetings and document reviews can be handled virtually when appropriate.
Discuss your family, assets and goals.
Identify the appropriate planning structure.
Prepare and review the documents.
Complete signing and execution requirements.
Estate Planning & Probate FAQs
Do I need an estate plan if I do not have a large estate?
Estate planning is not only about wealth. A plan can address who receives property, who manages finances during incapacity, who makes healthcare decisions, who administers the estate and how important family decisions should be handled.
How much does estate planning cost?
The Skeen Firm offers structured estate-planning pricing, with straightforward individual planning starting at $750. More involved family, trust, business-owner and advanced planning is priced based on the scope and complexity of the work.
What documents are usually included in an estate plan?
Depending on the circumstances, an estate plan may include a will, financial power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, living will or advance directive, trust, beneficiary-designation planning and other documents.
What is the difference between a will and a trust?
A will generally directs the disposition of probate property after death and may nominate fiduciaries and guardians. A trust is a separate arrangement that may hold and manage assets during life and after death.
Does a living trust avoid probate?
Assets properly transferred to a revocable living trust may generally avoid ordinary probate administration through the estate. Creating a trust alone is not enough; funding, asset ownership and beneficiary designations matter.
How much does a probate lawyer cost?
The amount depends on the work required. The Skeen Firm offers structured probate pricing, with attorney-guidance options beginning at $1,500 and qualifying full probate representation beginning at $3,500.
Can probate be avoided?
Some property can pass outside probate through trusts, beneficiary designations, joint ownership, transfer-on-death arrangements and other planning techniques. Whether avoiding probate is useful depends on the specific estate and planning objectives.
What happens if someone dies without a will?
State intestacy law generally determines who inherits probate property when there is no valid will. The result may differ from what the deceased person would have chosen.
Can estate planning be done virtually?
Many planning conferences, document reviews and related steps can be handled virtually. Actual execution requirements depend on the document and jurisdiction.
Do business owners need different estate planning?
Often, yes. Business ownership can involve succession, voting rights, buy-sell agreements, valuation, co-owners, liquidity, management transitions and transfer restrictions that should be coordinated with the estate plan.
Plan Now So the People You Care About Have Fewer Questions Later
Whether you need a straightforward will, trust-based plan, business succession strategy or help administering an estate after someone dies, start by understanding the assets, the people involved and what the plan needs to accomplish.
Attorney Advertising. This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, financial or investment advice. Viewing this page, using an estimator or contacting The Skeen Firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Estate-planning strategies, probate procedures, pricing, scope and document requirements depend on the specific facts, jurisdiction and written engagement agreement. Tax and financial planning should be coordinated with appropriate professionals.