Butler, Pennsylvania Wills, Trusts and Estate Attorneys

We help you design an effective plan

With over 125 years of combined experience, the attorneys at Montgomery Crissman, help you protect your family upon death or disability by dealing with all of your needs including:

Estate planning

You worked hard to accumulate your assets, and you have the right to dispose of them as you see fit.  When devising an estate plan, we advise you on how to protect your children, support your loved ones and advance important causes through charitable gifts.  After careful consideration of your needs, we devise a plan to effectively transfer your assets, minimize taxes, establish guardianship for your children, care for your pets, support philanthropic causes and protect your loved ones.  We draft a Will and a Trust if appropriate, to meet your estate planning goals.  We can help you plan for special circumstances such as second marriages, special needs beneficiaries and nursing home care.

Estate Administration

After you have lost a loved-one, dealing with the complicated probate process can add to the burden.  The knowledgeable and meticulous attorneys at  Montgomery Crissman lead you through the probate process and minimize this weight.  We first help you determine if it is necessary to open an estate or if the deceased’s assets pass independent of a Will.  If it is necessary to open an estate we assist executors and administrators in all steps of the complex process of probating a will in Pennsylvania probate court, including: opening the estate, determining and valuing the assets in the estate, paying the debts and taxes, properly distributing the estate, closing the estate, and obtaining the release of the executor/ administrator.

Probate Disputes

A Will contest or probate dispute aggravates the stress and pain of your emotional loss.  When such a dispute arises, our attorneys are prepared to zealously represent our clients.  We use our mediation skills to minimize hostilities between family members that often arise during the emotionally charged process.  We are equally prepared to fight assertively on your behalf in Probate Court whether it is to challenge an invalid Will or the improper actions of the executor/ administrator, or to defend a valid Will or the executor/administrator who is acting properly.