There are several strategies that a well-seasoned estate planning attorney can apply on your behalf to give you the best of estate planning. Taking advantage of estate laws in Brooklyn can enable you minimize your estate tax liabilities, avoid probate and its complexities, pass assets to your loved ones almost instantaneously, as well as prepare for eventual incapacity. All these are typically a core aspect of our estate planning approach.
At our law firm, we tailor our services to what works best for each individual client and estate. Our estate planning attorneys are highly knowledgeable in estate laws and will take advantage of these to give you the best of estate planning. We help ensure that the maximum amount of your estate goes to those who you want, and that all possible risks are mitigated. Call us if you need an estate planning attorney near 11222, Brooklyn.
Important things we can help you accomplish in your estate plan
- Assessing your assets: One of the first things we do when you come to us is taking assessment of your assets to determine how they are owned. This is the first step towards deciding how may be transferred. Only assets that are held in your name can be transferred by a Last Will. Assets held by joint ownership and survivorship do not need to go into a will. On ascertaining each valuable in your estate, we are better equipped to draft out an effective estate plan.
- Writing a will and/or trust: knowing fully well the nature of your estate, we can then proceed to create the necessary documents for asset transfer. Some simple estates do well with only a will while others are better off with a trust.
- Naming guardians for minors: State laws do not allow minors to inherit property. To ensure that your minors get the kind of life you wish for them when you pass away, we can discuss naming a guardian or creating a trust for them. This way, you have someone appointed to manage assets for your minors until they come of age.
- Reviewing and designating beneficiaries for your retirement account and life insurance: Some assets with designated beneficiaries such as IRA and life insurance proceeds must pass to the beneficiary whether or not there is a will that states otherwise. We typically review the documents to ensure they currently are in line with your wishes.
- Determining who will manage your estate during incapacity: There may come a time when you would become unable to take care of yourself, make sensible decisions or manage your estate. This consideration is vital to our estate planning approach, and so we establish documents such as durable powers of attorney and advance healthcare directives to name trusted agents to step into your shoes during incapacity. These documents avoid the need for a guardianship application/proceeding as your documents already provides your appointed agent.
- Assessing strategies that can help limit your estate tax liabilities as well as simplify probate: New York has not yet adopted the Uniform Probate Code that simplifies probate and therefore, the process is always lengthy, expensive and complicated. However, its complexity varies with the amount of property being passed through it. An experienced estate planning attorney from our firm will assess the various strategies available by which the amount of property passing through probate may be minimized. The same applies to estate tax (tax payable from your estate after your death before your inheritors can inherit). New York estate tax exemption amount for 2020 is $5.85 million. If your estate already surpasses this value, there are estate planning strategies by which we can help you avoid the tax.
- Creating different kinds of trusts as needed: There are different kinds of trusts; revocable, irrevocable, child trusts, special needs trusts, charity trusts, etc., each coming with its unique advantages. We would discuss each with you and execute whichever works best for your goals.
- Assessing your debts: Your estate debts would have to be settled during probate. If your estate is insufficient to cater for all debts, your heirs may inherit very little or nothing (New York Priority of Claims). We can offer you asset protection by leaving assets for your loved ones in irrevocable trusts, in which the assets are non-claimable by your creditors.
- Making updates to your estate plan when necessary: It is very necessary to keep a lasting formal relationship with your estate planning attorney. By so doing, they will be in a better position to know when and where to make changes in your estate plan.
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While a lot of do-it-yourselfers like to create wills for themselves, it is not uncommon to find in the end that some errors have been made, therefore throwing their loved ones into confusion and more trauma amidst the loss and grief. Give yourself and your family the peace of mind you all deserve by contacting us today to speak with an estate planning attorney in Brooklyn, NY 11222.