There is peace of mind that comes with working with a seasoned professional. You wouldn’t be very comfortable fixing a broken gas pipe for the first time when you’re not a plumber. So it is with estate planning.
Estate planning is critical; it is your future and that of your loved ones, and you need to get it right. You need to plan for the efficient distribution of your assets to those who deserve it, while ensuring risks, complications, and expenses are minimized. Any slight mistake in your estate plan can wreak havoc and put your loved ones in a position you never wished for them when you pass away. And that’s why you need to work with an experienced estate planning lawyer in Bronx.
Get help from the best estate planning lawyers in Bronx
Our law firm is office to some of the best estate planning lawyers in Bronx, committed to providing you estate planning services that brings peace of mind to you concerning your future. We take a holistic approach to estate planning, ensuring we address the management of your personal and financial affairs when you become incapacitated with age, the efficient transfer of your hard-earned possessions, while minimizing risks, complications, and undesirable expenses.
Call our law office today to speak with one of our highly seasoned estate planning lawyers in Bronx, NY.
What our estate planning lawyers will help you do
Drafting a will
A will, formally called a last will and testament, is a basic estate planning document on which you express your wishes concerning how you want your assets distributed when you are gone. You can decide to leave assets for anyone of your choice, including your spouse, parents, children, grandchildren, friends, charity, or even strangers. However, your will must be written in the right terms to say exactly what you mean. This is where an estate planning attorney comes in.
Your attorney will help you draft your will using the standard terms as recognized by Bronx law to avoid things going in a way you didn’t plan for when you die. They also help you determine what assets you should address in your will and those best left out.
Executing trusts and probate avoidance
While every will is subject to probate, a complex and expensive court process that takes place after you pass away, trusts avoid this process. Your beneficiaries can therefore inherit quickly and cost-effectively if you use a living trust to bequeath assets to them.
Since trusts are complex estate planning instruments, it’s crucial you seek assistance from an estate planning lawyer near you. Notably, our estate planning lawyers will always assess your situation to determine what kind of trust to establish, as there re different types with each type having its distinct benefits.
Plan for incapacity
By establishing a document known as power of attorney, an estate planning lawyer can help you appoint someone to manage your affairs when you become unable to manage them yourself. This person, your agent or attorney-in-fact, may make financial or healthcare decisions for you as you authorize in the document.
We advise creating a durable financial power of attorney and healthcare power of attorney now that you are competent. A durable power of attorney is one that does not become inactive due to incapacity. On the contrary, your agent can step into your shoe and manage your affairs any moment you become incapacitated. This avoids your estate from suffering huge blows if there’s no competent person authorized to step up immediately.
If there’s no incapacity plan in place, then your loved ones would have to seek guardianship over you when you become incapacitated, and this takes time and money.
Tax planning
An important aspect of estate planning is tax planning, and our estate planning lawyers Bronx are proficient tax planners.
We evaluate your entire estate (value of all that you own) to determine if it falls below the tax exemption amount. Currently in 2021, an estate tax will be imposed on New York estates valuing over $5.93 million. So if your estate is more than this amount, part of it will be going to the state. But there are legal estate planning strategies, such as annual gifting and execution of irrevocable trusts, we can use to prevent this for you.
Asset protection
If you wish to shield your wealth from going down through lawsuit, creditor claims, nursing home costs, etc, then asset protection is the way to go. We can help you achieve this by strategically executing irrevocable trusts.
Call us today to speak with one of our proficient estate planning lawyers In Bronx, NY.