Episode 26 | About This Episode
What happens to everything you’ve worked for when you’re gone, and who gets to decide? In this episode of The Injury Pros Podcast, host Michael Saile sits down with estate planning attorney Barbara Boyd to explain estate law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Barbara covers the essentials of estate planning: wills, powers of attorney, living wills, and naming guardians for your children. She explains how inheritance taxes work in each state and why about 55% of Americans have no will at all. She also covers the legal ideas behind many estate fights, including testamentary capacity, undue influence, and self-proving wills, and walks through the probate process step by step.
Michael then connects estate law to personal injury practice. He explains why an estate must be opened before a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed, and how wrongful death and survival claims are divided for tax purposes. He also tells a close-call story about a defendant who died just before the statute of limitations ran out.
Whether you’re in your 20s or your 90s, this episode shows why an estate plan is one of the kindest things you can leave your family.
Host: Michael Saile is a personal injury attorney with Cordisco & Saile, representing injured people and families across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and host of The Injury Pros Podcast. Learn more at https://cordiscosaile.com.
Guest: Barbara Boyd heads the estate planning department at Maselli Mills & Fornal. She is admitted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and handles estate planning, estate administration, estate litigation, and court-appointed guardianship matters. Offices in Princeton, NJ and Newtown, PA. Learn more at https://www.masellilaw.com.
