Catholic Estate Planning & Probate Law

Personalized Catholic Estate Planning – Probate Law Services in Fairfax, Virginia

Founded by Paul J. Abraham, President Emeritus of the Thomas More Guild for Catholic Legal Professionals and an experienced estate planning attorney, PJI Law, PLC recognizes the importance of aligning legal strategies with the moral and ethical principles of the Catholic faith for those clients who desire it. With a focus on personalized service and attention, we guide our clients through the process of Catholic estate planning and probate while honoring their individual beliefs and preferences.

Our team understands that estate planning and probate matters can be deeply personal and emotionally challenging. That’s why we strive to provide a supportive and empathetic environment for our clients, ensuring that their estate plan meticulously documents their wishes, honors their legacy, supports their beneficiaries, and legally protects them.

Whether you’re seeking to establish a comprehensive estate plan or navigate the complexities of probate proceedings, PJI Law, PLC is here to offer you the guidance you need, infused with a genuine respect for the principles who wish to proceed consistently with Catholic teaching.

PJI Law Can Create a Comprehensive Catholic Estate Plan

Our law firm handles many aspects of estate planning and estate administration, including:

• Wills
• Trusts
• Advance Medical Directives
• Power of Attorney
• Business Succession Planning
• Deed Preparation
• Transfer-on-Death Deeds
• Estate Plan Maintenance
• Probate
• Guardianship
• Conservatorships

Creating Your Catholic Estate Plan

As the Catholic Church teaches, we are called to be good stewards of the gifts we’ve been given. Thoughtful estate planning can make a tremendous impact on our loved ones, including family members and friends. Planned giving to the church can help ensure the perpetuation of Catholic values within the Catholic community and beyond after you pass away.

Regardless of the size of their estate, everyone benefits from establishing a comprehensive estate plan with the assistance of an experienced legal team that respects your religious values. Your PJI Law attorney will discuss your unique needs and goals, and create an estate plan that supports you during your lifetime and cares for your loved ones after your passing.

Catholic estate planning goes far beyond financial considerations. We can also advise you about guardianship and conservatorship for your children and other loved ones, and the legal documents you need to secure your health care as you age and pay for funeral provisions upon your death.

Should My Catholic Estate Plan Be a Will-Based Plan or a Trust-Based Plan?

As a devout Catholic seeking to provide for your family and leave a lasting legacy after your death, you can create either a will-based or a trust-based estate plan. In your will, also known as a last will and testament, you can designate your beneficiaries and name a guardian for your minor children. Following your death, your will may very well undergo an often lengthy, stressful, and expensive probate process.

However, we can create a comprehensive estate plan that complements your will and spares your family from having to be subject to the probate process or to dragging your real estate and financial assets through probate. When creating an estate plan, many of our Northern Virginia clients choose to establish living trusts. Unlike wills, living trusts take effect immediately. You can transfer property into the trust to help your loved ones receive it
faster, more easily, and with minimal expense when you pass away, because property
transferred into a trust does not have to go through probate.

Deciding which estate plan best serves your needs and every legal document it should contain is best accomplished with the help of a knowledgeable and experienced estate planning attorney who understands and respects your values.

Guardianship for Minor Children

As Catholics, ensuring that our children are raised in accordance with church teachings and religious values is paramount. Because our children are gifts from a loving God, we also want to protect them in the unfortunate event of our death and the death of their other parent while they are still minors. With the help of your attorney, you can designate a guardian or guardians in your will, choosing individuals you trust to care for their spiritual, physical, and emotional needs. Whether a family member or a good friend, choose a guardian who will honor your wishes and care for your sons or daughters well after your death.

We recommend choosing one or two backup guardians to prepare for every contingency. A wills attorney at PJI Law can help you include a guardian in your will and provide directions for your guardian on raising your children in the Catholic faith. During the estate planning process, your attorney will also explain your options for providing financial support to your children after your death.

Setting up guardianship assures that someone you trust – and not an individual designated by a Virginia court – cares for your children.

Northern Virginia Guardianships and Conservatorships

It can be very difficult to witness a loved one declining to the point of incapacitation. Such an emotionally devastating event can leave you feeling helpless. When the person becomes unable to manage their affairs, you can apply for guardianship or conservatorship. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, they have distinct differences.

If appointed as a guardian for an incapacitated adult, you will manage their personal affairs.

If you become a conservator, you will manage the person’s financial affairs.

It’s possible to be appointed as both the guardian and conservator or serve as one or the other. A Northern Virginia estate law attorney will review the obligations for each role and help you file the necessary paperwork with the court so that you can ensure your values and those of your loved one are protected.

Planning for Incapacity

While none of us likes to think about disability or incapacitation, Catholics know that we cannot always understand God’s will. However, we can anticipate the unexpected in our estate planning with the right advance medical directives and durable powers of attorney. With these legal documents in place, a trusted individual can manage your personal, medical, and financial affairs without petitioning the court for a guardianship or conservatorship. As difficult as it is to consider becoming incapacitated, proper planning will alleviate the burden on your loved ones, giving them peace of mind and sparing them from going to court. Our attorneys have worked with countless Catholic clients and, for those clients who desire it, prepare the advance medical directives in such a way as to ensure that your health care agent does not make decisions about your health, or in end-of-life situations, that are inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic church.

Planning for Charitable Giving 

To those for whom Catholic religious issues and the well-being of their parish are important, your legacy can include giving back to the church after your death. In the estate planning process, you can consider planned giving to support the Catholic Church in continuing its legacy. Available options include:

1. Direct Bequests: One of the most common methods is making a direct bequest in a will, specifying a certain amount or percentage of the estate to be allocated to the church or specific church charities.
2. Trusts: Establishing a charitable trust can allow individuals to donate assets to the trust for the benefit of the church, providing flexibility and potential tax benefits.
3. Charitable Gift Annuities: This option allows individuals to make a substantial gift to the church while receiving fixed payments for life.
4. Beneficiary Designations: Naming the Catholic church as a beneficiary on retirement accounts or life insurance policies is another avenue to consider for charitable giving within an estate plan.

Probate Services

Virginia requires most estates to undergo probate before the beneficiaries can receive property and other assets designated in the person’s will. This multifaceted process includes:

• Inventorying the Estate
• Paying Debts
• Completing Accountings
• Distributing the Assets

If you have been named the executor in a will, a probate attorney at PJI Law can simplify this daunting process. Let us protect the estate against legal claims, coordinate estate and income tax issues, and explain duties to guardians and executors so that they fully understand what is required of them.

Virginia excludes some assets from probate, including:

• Retirement accounts
• Payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts
• Joint tenancy assets
• Life insurance payouts

Understanding the Probate Process in Virginia

If named an executor in a will, your first step following the person’s passing is to take the will to the Circuit Court, where the Clerk of the Circuit Court will validate the will. Next, the executor inventories the assets and submits a list to the Commissioner of Accounts. As executor, you must also file an accounting of income and expenses with the Commissioner of Accounts.

An executor assumes responsibility for paying all the bills, filing the tax returns, and paying applicable taxes. At this point, creditors might make claims against the estate, requiring the executor to settle them. Be prepared for the possibility that someone will challenge the validity of the will, which must be settled in probate court. In the final step, the executor distributes the assets according to the will’s terms.

What Happens When a Will is Contested?

Although most wills pass through probate uneventfully, there are times when an “interested party,” as defined by law, has legal grounds to contest it. Common grounds for contesting a will include:

• Competency
• Undue Influence
• Fraud
• Misappropriation

At PJI Law, we have guided clients on both sides of these legal challenges, drawing upon our extensive knowledge to investigate your claim to determine if you have the grounds to file a claim, before submitting a challenge on your behalf.

Conversely, if you’re confident in the will’s validity and dealing with someone else contesting it, we can represent you in that process.