It is always in your best interests to work with an estate planning attorney to ensure you get peace of mind for your future. Using estate planning documents such as wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, an estate planning attorney Bronx, NY will create an estate plan that offers you the best benefits.
To get in touch with an experienced estate planning attorney in Bronx, NY, contact us today.
Top reasons to hire an Estate Planning Attorney Bronx NY
1. An estate planning lawyer in Bronx ensures your documents are compliant with local laws
It is not enough to create a will or trust. What matters is that these estate planning instruments fulfill your wishes when the time comes. And to do so, they must be found to be complaint to local laws.
Since it is unlikely that you’d have sufficient knowledge of all the estate planning laws applicable in Bronx, it’s beneficial to work with a knowledgeable professional.
2. Keeping up with state laws
Estate laws are ever-changing. For example, the New York estate tax exemption amount changes every year. It becomes important you have a professional who is up to date with these estate laws to ensure your estate plan remains in line with the laws and your goals.
3. Saving you and your loved ones from huge estate tax
Across states, there is an amount known as estate tax exemption amount. In New York, this amount is $5.93 million as at 2021. If the estimated value of your estate falls below this amount at the time of your death, you estate can pass to your inheritors tax-free. But if your estate exceeds that value, an amount known as estate tax must be paid to the state of New York.
However, through proper planning, an estate planning attorney in Bronx can help you prevent this, ensuring your valuable money goes to your loved ones who deserve it.
4. Saving your loved ones the hassles of probate
Probate is a problematic legal process that takes place when someone dies leaving estate. It is typically lengthy, costly, and time-consuming in Bronx. But all of that depends on the nature of the estate passing through probate. The higher the value, the more complex probate tends to be. If that’s your case, you wouldn’t want your survivors to go through the stress before they can inherit your property.
Typically, all assets passed via a will will pass through probate. Depending on the complexity of your estate, a good estate planning attorney will suggest handling your valuable assets in a living trust so that those passing through probate will be minimized (if all can’t go through the trust). All assets passed in a trust avoid probate.
5. Ensuring your will says what you mean
It is one thing to mean a thing, it is another thing to say it exactly as you mean it. And this applies to wills. If you casually write your will, chances are that you may use the wrong choice of words that may lead to discrepancy, ambiguity, and confusion later. Of course, your will must pass through the court so using the right terms matters a great deal. To ensure everything is as it should be, especially when you have complex needs for your estate, let an estate planning professional draft your will for you.
6. Plan for Incapacity
By establishing a document known as power of attorney, an estate planning attorney Bronx can help you appoint a competent agent to manage your financial and/or medical affairs when you become unable to manage them yourself. Incapacity can strike at anytime, and it’s important you plan for it now that you are still competent so that your wishes can be honored when the time comes.
7. Customizing your estate plan
Not all estates are the same. Some may do well with just a will, while others require intensive planning. For example, you may own property in other states. In such a situation, you would have to retitle these properties into a living trust to avoid placing heavy probate burden on your survivors since probate must be conducted in each state where you own property.
There are other things that may require special attention in your estate that an estate planning attorney can help with.
Get peace of mind
Get peace of mind knowing all your concerns have been duly accounted for and addressed. Call us for assistance from an experienced estate Planning Attorney Bronx NY.