Providing personalized services to our clients has always been key to our practice, and we are committed to offering Trusts and Estates services focused on your long-term goals.
Let us help you plan for the efficient and effective transfer of your assets to your loved ones while mitigating complications and costs.
Trusts and estates and comprehensive estate planning
With decades of practice, Our trusts and estates attorneys Long Island are familiar with the problems many people face in this borough. Preparing for wealth distribution is not always as easy as it may seem. There are varying family situations and varying levels of wealth, but our estate planning approach is to listen to your needs and help you identify strategies by which we can help you realize your goals.
We have assisted countless clients in Long Island in the selection and creation of various documents ranging from living trusts and wills, to irrevocable trusts and special needs trusts designed to guarantee eligibility for Medicaid benefits, while minimizing taxation.
We are built solidly on the foundation of giving our clients a well-rounded and cost-effective estate plan that satisfies all their needs.
Why you need a trusts and estates attorney in Long Island
Many people wrongly conclude that estate planning is something for those in their final days but the truth is NOW is the time to plan. By hiring a Long Island trusts and estates attorney, you can be educated to realize those things you didn’t even know you have to plan for. And most importantly, your trust and estates attorney will help you make efficient decisions regarding your finances and family and how to efficiently document these decisions so they can be honored to the letter.
Things a trusts and estates attorney can help you do in Long Island
Your trusts and estates attorney can help you assess your entire estate (the total value of all that you own) and ensure that all your non-liquid assets are duly accounted for.
Typically, trusts and estates attorneys help to create an estate plan that covers
- Asset transfer
- Asset protection
- Tax planning
- Incapacity planning
- Business succession
- Probate administration
- Elder law
- Guardianship
- Long term care
- Joint accounts
- Among others.
To achieve the above, your trusts and estates attorney will most likely create some of the following documents
- Last will & testament
- Living trusts
- Irrevocable trusts
- Powers of attorney
- Living will
- Among others.
Wills and trusts
Wills and trusts are crucial to estate planning. So long you have certain individuals you want to bequeath assets to, you must have at least one of these asset transfer documents. There are legal requirements and estate situations that determine how your will and or trust should be established. Hence it’s in your best interest to consult an experienced legal professional. It’s an estates and trusts attorney’s job to ensure your will and trusts works to your advantage.
Selecting an estate administrator
When you pass away, someone will be in charge of executing the intents of your will, paying off your estate debts and taxes, and disbursing your estate. That person is called an estate administrator or executor – collectively called your personal representative.
You have the freedom to name your estate administrator in your will. Ensure this person is competent and trustworthy to administer your estate with efficiency and reliability.
However, note that you cannot choose a non US citizen or someone living outside New York as your estate administrator in Long Island.
Your estate administrator is bound by law to always act in the best interests of your estate. If they conduct any unscrupulous act, they will answer to the probate court and your surviving family.
Power of attorney
A power of attorney is a document by which you appoint an agent to make decisions on your behalf when you become unable to make them yourself. Your agent doesn’t have to be a lawyer. It can be your relative, friend, or trusted business associate.
In Long Island, power of Attorney is often used for incapacity planning as part of your estate plan. By creating a POA and naming an agent, you would have someone to manage your healthcare, finances, and personal upkeep when you become incapacitated.
Notably, creating a power of attorney prevents your family from having to go through several court proceedings to prove your incompetence and get you guardianship.
It is our goal to give you a comprehensive plan that covers all your concerns. Hence, our Trusts and estates attorneys will include the POA in your estate plan.
Estates and trusts attorney near me Long Island
Looking for a Trusts and estates attorney in Long Island? Call us today.