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The Pitch:

To counteract claims that some unethical living trusts and wills vendors have been making about their products, the Probate and Trust Law Section of the Bar Association published a booklet, “The Truth About Probate and Living Trusts in Pennsylvania.”   The elderly are most susceptible to these vendors.  Impossible as it is to stop them from selling, the best thing that the association can do is better educate and inform the citizens of Allegheny County in making better decisions concerning trusts and wills.

Media Placement Results:

Larry Walsh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured the booklet twice in November 2002 in his “Post Your Problems,” column.  Yvonne Zanos of KDKA-TV planned to do a story about the booklet for her “Consumer Problems” segment of the news.  The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review featured the chair of the Section, Chuck Foerster as a ‘Newsmaker of the Day,' and has also publicized the booklet since then.  In less than 2 weeks, the association logged over 2,000 calls from the general public interested in obtaining a copy and received an additional 1,000 hits on the Web site where the booklet is available for download.

The Press Release:

Pittsburgh, PA - Charles E. Foerster, Chair of the Probate and Trust Law Section for the Allegheny County Bar Association, announced today that their recently published booklet, "The Truth About Probate and Living Trusts in Pennsylvania," is now available online.  The free booklet, which can be downloaded at www.acba.org/probate_brochure.pdf , is an educational tool to help the citizens of Allegheny County make better decisions concerning trusts and wills.

"We found a need to place the probate process and living trusts in perspective for the benefit of the public and to aid attorneys in assisting their clients," said Foerster.  "People should be skeptical of the hard selling of living trusts.  Certain vendors of living trusts are misrepresenting the probate process and exaggerating the benefits of living trusts in order to make quick sales.  This booklet will help educate the public about the basic facts of probate and living trusts in Pennsylvania."

The booklet discusses such facts as how the probate process begins and ends, what happens to an estate after probate begins, what is a living trust and some of its disadvantages.

Foerster added that organizations and community groups interested in learning more about probate and living trusts should call the Allegheny County Bar Association Speaker's Bureau at 412.402-6620 to arrange for a speaker who will speak at no charge.  For those who do not have access to the Internet, the booklet can be ordered free of charge by also calling 412.402.6620.

The Allegheny County Bar Association is a professional organization with more than 6,700 member attorneys, judges, district justices, legal administrators and paralegals.

The Probate and Trust Law Section of the Bar Association studies all phases, questions and problems in the field of probate and trust law; propose and support changes, amendments, modifications and improvements in statutory law relating to this field of law.

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