Every adult could benefit in some way from the creation of an estate plan. Unfortunately, many people fall into one of two common estate planning traps. They procrastinate for so long that an emergency arises before they create documents or they only create protective...
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Estate Planning
Do you need to talk to your loved ones about your estate plan?
If you are designing an estate plan, one of the things you need to do is to talk to those in your life about it. For example, if you have decided who you’d like to have as your health care power of attorney or financial power of attorney, that person (or those people)...
Early planning pays off as you age
As a part of your estate plan, something you may want to do is to look into long-term care planning. Long-term care planning gives you the opportunity to think about the situations you may run into as you age and take steps to make sure your wishes are known and be...
3 kinds of taxes that executors must handle for an estate
When someone dies, they will usually have some leftover financial obligations for their loved ones or the executor of their estate to address. An executor has a responsibility to fulfill the remaining obligations of a deceased individual. This responsibility applies...
Special needs trust: a tailored, effective estate planning tool
An established New York legal source on estate planning duly notes that “trusts are a powerful tool.” Here’s why: There are myriad types of trusts in the estate planning realm, and they are notably flexible vehicles that can be established to creatively address...
How much does it cost to probate an estate in New York?
The legacy that someone leaves behind when they die truly depends on how carefully they saved and planned while they were still alive. Whether you are an executor carrying out someone else's last wishes or a testator trying to plan your own legacy, avoiding probate...
How often do you need to review your estate plan to keep it valid?
Once you are ready to build an estate plan, you’ll need to sit down with your attorney to go over your wishes. Finalizing your estate plan is an excellent feeling of a job well done, but the reality is that you never really finish planning. Estate plans should be...
How to secure and evaluate the property that belongs to an estate
There are many tasks expected of the executor of an estate. They have to file paperwork with the New York probate courts, handle financial responsibilities on behalf of the deceased and even distribute their property to their loved ones and heirs. The process of...
No kids and no family: Do you need an estate plan?
If you are someone who has no living family, no spouse and no children, you might be in a position where you aren’t sure what to do about your estate. You may not feel the need to have a will or estate plan, because you have no specific heirs to leave your assets to...
3 different ways to structure an inheritance left for young kids
Parents usually want their estate plans to protect their children. Becoming a parent is often one of the motivating factors people reference when sitting down to make their first estate plan. You want to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that there is a...
