We at Peak Legal Group have made it our mission to help the people of Pennsylvania get through whatever legal concerns are weighing on their minds today while also planning ahead for the future. Through our estate planning services, for instance, we do more than simply build a plan and send you on your way. We also check in every few years to make sure that plan is still working for you and is up-to-date with any laws or statutes that may have changed since the last time we spoke. If that sounds like the kind of law firm youd like to work with, please call or stop by our office in West Chester, Pennsylvania to learn about our other services and schedule a conversation.
Divorce Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution where parties work to reach an agreement with the help and guidance of a neutral person called a mediator. Mediators are professionals with special training in assisting parties to understand the other’s perspective, discuss possible solutions, and ultimately find common ground. Mediation can be used to resolve custody, support, and property issues.
Child Support
Child support or modifications to support can be sought whether or not you are or have ever been married to the other parent. It may be sought during marriage or after a divorce. Pennsylvania uses child support guidelines to determine financial support.
Child Custody and Visitation
€œFamily Law†is an area of law that encompasses issues involving family relationships such as marriage and divorce, child custody, and adoption. Family lawyers help people facing all kinds of sensitive, highly personal issues. At Peak Legal Group, we know that these issues can often be painful, so our goal is to help our clients obtain the best possible outcome in a way that minimizes the pain they experience as much as possible.
Adoption
Premarital Agreement
Even though no couple gets engaged with the expectation that they will one day divorce, the only true guarantee in life is that there are no guarantees. With so many couples marrying later in life after accumulating separate assets or after having had children from prior relationships, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements have become much more common.
Guardianship
My wife and I met with Jen to discuss Estate Planning following a presentation she made at our son's school, where she provided complementary information on guardianship and specifically addressed the legal protection of our children in the event of an emergency.
Spousal Support
If you are divorcing or contemplating divorce, you will likely have a lot of questions about spousal support and alimony. In Pennsylvania, both spousal support and alimony are payments made to a financially dependent spouse, but they refer to payments made at different times. Spousal support payments are made to the financially dependent spouse before the divorce is final; if alimony is granted, it begins once the parties are divorced and continues for a period of time that will vary in each case depending on the circumstances.
After spending her early years as a trial lawyer handling complex corporate litigation for large companies, Jen realized that what she really wanted to do with her law degree was make a difference in the lives of real people. Having experienced firsthand the emotional turmoil and financial upheaval that can be caused by the death of a loved one, Jen decided to make a difference by using her legal skills and training to help everyday people get their personal and business affairs in order.
Business Disputes
Jen focuses her practice in the areas of estate planning and probate administration, business law and planning, and elder law/long-term care planning. The common thread in all of these practice areas is their ultimate objective: planning for both the expected and unexpected in order to protect her clients, their loved ones, and their interests.
Business Transactions
1. General Power of Attorney: A general power of attorney gives broad powers to your chosen agent. Some of the authorized powers may include handling financial and business transactions, buying life insurance, settling claims, operating business interests, making gifts, and employing professional help. It is regularly included in an estate plan to make sure someone you trust can handle your financial matters in the event you are unable to due to illness or incapacity.
Limited Liability Companies
We can help you create a legal barrier between creditors and your assets. Some of the most common asset protection techniques we use include maximizing contributions to IRAs, moving funds to an irrevocable trust, retitling assets, or using limited liability companies or other business entities to separate personal and business assets and liabilities.
We were referred to Jennifer Walker by my company accountant to use for a real estate transaction. We wanted to be sure our ducks were in a row, that we were doing things the right way with our purchase of a property and that the contract between the seller and ourselves was good for both parties.
Medicaid Planning is the process of developing a plan based on legal and ethical strategies to save as much of the family’s assets as possible while qualifying the senior citizen or disabled adult for Medical Assistance (Pennsylvania’s “Medicaid†) to cover the costs of long-term care (such as nursing home care or in-home assistance).
We get a lot of questions from people who want to know if they should add a child or a spouse onto their existing deed. We talk to a lot of real estate investors who are thinking of transferring an income property into an LLC for asset protection. We also hear a lot from folks wondering if they should transfer their home into a Trust for estate planning or to avoid probate. And in each case, our initial answer is, †It depends.†Every situation is unique, so it’s always a good idea to discuss the pros and cons of changing your deed with an attorney before you move forward.
Wills
A Will (also known as a Last Will and Testament) is an absolutely essential legal document that enables you to control how your estate will be handled after you die. With a properly drafted Will, you can do the following...
Trusts
The goal of Special Needs Planning is to provide for the needs of a physically or mentally disabled loved one. The most common special needs planning tool is the Special Needs Trust, which is a trust that pays for needs not covered by Medicaid, SSI or other public benefit programs.
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney (POA) is an essential planning document that allows you to appoint a trusted person (known as your agent or attorney-in-fact) to manage your affairs and make decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. There are different types of Power of Attorney...
These days, anyone can get sued. Lawsuits can result from car accidents, credit card debt, bank foreclosures, unhappy customers, and many other things. If someone wins a judgment against you, you or your family could be financially devastated or even go bankrupt trying to pay it off.