Bylaws are the governing documents for nonprofit corporations and usually focus largely on the composition, duties, and conduct of the organization’s board of directors. Bylaws should be treated as living documents that grow and change along with the nonprofit itself in order to facilitate institutional wisdom and progress, but instead, oftentimes bylaws left stagnant and outdated. When bylaws become outdated, they are less helpful to the institution in times of transition and stress, and may become ineffective under new statutes. To prevent this from happening, we recommend reviewing your bylaws periodically, and looking for specific items which may need to be updated.

When a person dies as a resident of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Inheritance tax is owed on most categories of the assets they owned at their death. Understanding both how the tax is calculated and the exempt asset categories is key to managing the Inheritance tax that will be owed by one’s estate.

In this episode, estate planning attorneys Mary Beth Melso, Sierra Weinkam, and Christina Miller (https://www.commonslaw.com/lawyers) demystify the estate planning process. They cover essential documents, what to expect in a meeting, and how clients can prepare effectively. Keywords Estate Planning, Wills, Power of Attorney, Healthcare Directive, Probate, Fiduciary Roles, Estate Meeting Preparation Topic areas Key estate planning documents: will, healthcare directive, power of attorney What to expect during an estate planning meeting How to prepare and what to bring to your estate planning session Differences between probate and non-probate assets Roles of executor, trustee, and guardian Takeaways Most estate plans include a will, healthcare directive, and power of attorney. Preparation involves reviewing assets, liabilities, and thinking about beneficiaries. Clients can bring documents or contact info, but it's not necessary as notes are taken. Estate planning meetings are designed to be informative and supportive.

Charitable giving is something many people think about when establishing or updating their estate plan. One tool that has become increasingly popular is a Donor Advised Fund, commonly known as a DAF. Despite their growing use, many people are unfamiliar with how they work or whether a DAF might make sense for them for lifetime charitable giving and as part of their estate plan.

For those serving as the personal representative of an estate, determining what documentation and information to keep and organize can be confusing. Based on our experience working with Executors and Administrators in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, we put together a list of documents and information that we recommend you gather and keep.

In this video, Attorneys Katie Commons and Mary Beth Melso discuss some of the issues that come up when making gifts of cash or other assets to children or other family members. They touch on: annual gift tax considerations, timing of gifts, gifts in excess of the gift tax exclusion, gifting to minors, the “Med-Ed” exclusion, special considerations related to Pennsylvania inheritance tax laws, and questions of basis for capital assets.