Creating an estate plan is essential to having peace of mind for the future. Your estate plan covers everything concerning the management and protection of your wealth during your lifetime and how they would be disposed when you pass away. Of course, you have special ones who you’d like to have a part of your estate. And you want it to be hassle-free and cost-effective for them to inherit from you. We can help you achieve your goals.
Our Estate Planning & Probate Lawyers in Buffalo NY are always ready to assist you.
At our law firm, we have expert lawyers specialized in estate planning and probate, and we will ensure we help you actualize your estate goals. We help you make well-informed decisions concerning how your assets should be handled should something happen to you, such as incapacitation, and the best way to transfer them without heavy tax burden and hassles. We can also help executors in the administration of a decedent’s estate.
Whatever your needs, call us to get in touch with an estate planning and probate lawyer in Buffalo.
Creating your last will and testament
A will is a fundamental document included in an estate plan. On it, you express your wishes regarding how you want your possessions disposed after your death.
In Buffalo, most assets can be passed with a will except:
- Assets in a trust
- Transfer-on-death accounts
- Property held by joint tenancy with rights of survivorship
- Life insurance proceeds
- Retirement accounts such as 401(k).
If you have any of the above, you will typically designate a beneficiary in the document. When you die, that asset will go to the named beneficiary regardless of what your will says.
Your estate planning lawyer will help ensure your will is properly written to reflect your exact wishes and that it’s valid in court. Your lawyer may also update your documents when necessary.
Probate
Probate is a legal process that takes place after one’s death in which their will is validated before their estate can be disbursed. Only those assets in the will may pass through probate.
During this time, the executor named in the document will be charged with several critical responsibilities such as:
- Accounting for and valuating each asset owned by the decedent
- Filing tax return forms on behalf of the decedent
- Paying estate tax, decedent’s creditors, probate fees, and other financial obligations of the estate
- Distributing the estate.
There is always room for mistakes or complications during probate, and it can delay the process further. But by working with a probate lawyer Buffalo NY, the executor can perform his duties more efficiently so that it can conclude more quickly.
Probate in Buffalo is typically time consuming and expensive and we often help our clients to minimize this process. We can do this by creating a living trust in addition to a will.
Living trust and probate minimization
A living trust is also an asset transfer document but more efficient than a will. When you transfer assets using a trust, they go to the beneficiary directly and immediately without involving the court. Probate is therefore avoided. If you use a will for a few assets, then the value of assets going through probate will be minimized, therefore causing probate to get less complicated, time-consuming, and expensive.
Incapacity
During incapacity, your successor trustee named in your trust can step into your shoes and manage the trust assets on your behalf.
However, your successor trustee only has authority within your trust, so we often recommend establishing powers of attorney.
With a power of attorney, you appoint a trusted and competent individual to manage your estate that falls outside your trust.
A medical power of attorney will give an agent authority to make medical decisions on your behalf when you become unable to make them yourself.
Tax planning
In Buffalo, your estate would be charged a tax if it values over $5.85 million. The tax can reach up to 16%, which can make up a sizable chunk of your estate. You can avoid letting your assets go just like that through proper tax planning. We can help you.
Whatever your estate planning and probate needs are in Buffalo, NY, call us for expert assistance.
