Estate Planning Attorneys
If you are concerned about providing for your loved ones after your death, our firm can assist you in preparing a Will or Trust to meet the needs of your family after you pass away. In achieving this goal, we advise and inform our estate planning clients on how to protect and manage their well-earned assets during their lifetime. We thoroughly inform our clients on the probate process and specifically tailor each client’s estate plan in ways that minimize or, in many cases if appropriate, totally eliminate the time-consuming and expensive court supervised estate settlement process.
Whether your estate is big or small, our attorneys are experienced in all areas of estate planning and estate taxation. We are experts at planning to reduce estate taxes. We will assist you in developing an estate plan that addresses and resolves your specific concerns and needs.
Along with general planning, our firm can assist you in more complex estate planning matters which, among others, include; Supplemental Needs Trusts, Credit Shelter Trusts, Disclaimer Trusts, IRA Trusts, and Tax Advantaged Lifetime Gifting.
Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts
Providing the most for your family after your death.
By placing your post-mortem wishes in writing, you will protect your loved ones from difficult financial or legal situations after your death. In the event you die without a will, New York State law governs who will receive your assets at death as well as the division of your assets among these individuals, which almost always will be contrary to your actual wishes. Our estate planning services include counseling our clients on the proper type and structure of Will or Trust. We customize your plan to meet your particular needs and concerns so that your loved ones are protected after your death and to help make the estate settlement process as easy and uncomplicated as possible.
In the legal context, estate planning is a broad-ranging term used to describe a variety of ways to legally prepare for death, typically as it relates to the distribution of property and other assets. Such property can be virtually anything. For example, an estate plan can provide for specific instructions as to the distribution of a vacation home or a sentimental item that has been passed down in the family. Estate planning also encompasses decisions as to what happens in the event you become incapacitated and are unable to properly make certain decisions regarding your health care, family obligations, finances, or legal obligations.
We provide our estate planning clients with advice on taxation so that your estate will not pay any unnecessary estate taxes upon death. We also ensure our estate planning clients are protected during their lifetimes by advising on financial protections as well as having a properly executed Power of Attorney, Living Will and Health Care Proxy, and HIPAA Authorization.
Planning for Incapacitation
Choosing who will make the important decisions when you’re unable.
Planning for incapacitation is an essential component of a complete estate plan. By determining future actions regarding your healthcare and financial affairs, you authorize your loved ones to carry out your wishes if you become unable to communicate.
A Power of Attorney is an essential part of a complete estate plan because it allows you to designate individual(s) to handle your financial affairs. A Power of Attorney can take effect immediately or be more limited in nature by only taking effect upon your incapacitation.
The obvious advantages of the Power of Attorney is your ability to choose a trusted individual to manage your financial affairs. The flexible design of the Power of Attorney as a planning tool allows for continuity of transactions such as paying bills, executing bond and stock transactions, and executing banking transactions. New York State’s Powers of Attorney are complex and require the supervision and advice of an attorney to accurately execute. We commonly see mistakes in Powers of Attorney executed without legal advice. This document is as important to your estate plan as your Will.
A Living Will and Health Care Proxy is an instrument designed to ensure that the medical care provided to an individual, who is no longer capable of expressing his or her desires, is consistent with their actual wishes. This instrument allows you to memorialize your wishes with respect to certain health care procedures and is intended to become effective if you’re unable to communicate. In the event of terminal illness or irreversible coma, this document directs health care providers to use or withhold certain life-sustaining procedures. In the absence of this document, no one is appointed legal authority to end life-sustaining treatment on your behalf thus giving rise to potentially prolonged suffering for yourself and your loved ones.