New York Legacy Lawyers by Yana Feldman & Associates PLLC

NY Estate Plan Checklist

The goal of estate planning is to ensure that your property and assets are distributed according to your wishes after you pass away. Partnering with an estate planning attorney can be invaluable in this endeavor. Without proper planning, a significant portion of your estate could be subject to taxes and/or probate, potentially leaving your heirs with less than you intend. An estate plan also helps to minimize conflicts between family members and ensures that loved ones are cared for as you would like. However, many people, despite their best intentions, fail to cover all the bases in their estate plan.

An estate plan should contain an inventory of all your assets and property. This comprehensive list, often best compiled with the guidance of an estate planning attorney, should encompass tangible possessions, financial accounts, and other significant properties. This inventory is pivotal as it offers your heirs clarity on your possessions and their respective values. It also flags any debts and potential tax implications. Trusts, which can benefit minors, incapacitated adults, or charitable entities, can be evaluated based on this inventory.

Central to any estate plan is the designation of guardians for minor children. This decision carries the weight of determining the caregiver for the children post the demise of the parent. Beyond care, the guardian often handles the child's financial assets until they reach a designated age, typically 18 or 21. Consulting an estate planning attorney can offer valuable insights into making this significant decision.

It's advisable to have a power of attorney and a healthcare directive in place. Such documents are pivotal, designating individuals to make decisions on your behalf should you be incapacitated. They demarcate specific medical treatments in scenarios of incapacitation or end-of-life decisions. For instance, a living will can elucidate your stance on pain management or organ donation.

Periodically reviewing your estate plan is essential, ensuring its alignment with changing life circumstances. Situations like marriage, divorce, asset acquisition, beneficiary removal, or trust updates necessitate a revisit. In sync with this, an estate planning attorney can guide on insurance policy reviews and beneficiary designations. In the digital age, maintaining a record of digital logins and passwords is crucial. Naming a digital executor in your estate plan, who oversees digital assets post your demise, is gaining traction.

Crafting a robust estate plan entails addressing diverse, individual-centric factors. To navigate this intricate process effectively, collaborating with a seasoned New York estate planning attorney is indispensable. Such professional involvement can minimize potential familial conflicts and ensure that the plan conforms to all legal mandates.


Elderly Estate Preparations NY

As we age, our health and finances often come under intense strain. This is particularly true when the need for long-term care arises, which can be financially taxing. Consulting an estate planning attorney can be an invaluable step in ensuring a comprehensive plan is in place to mitigate financial risks and protect assets.

In many instances, these costs can be shouldered by Medicare or Medicaid. Yet, navigating this assistance can be intricate due to the ever-evolving eligibility criteria. Beyond this, crafting requisite legal documents to fortify your benefits is essential. To adeptly traverse this legal maze, seeking the expertise of an elder-care and estate planning attorney is advisable.

Engaging an elder-care attorney, particularly an estate planning attorney, can empower you to establish a long-term care trust, among other pivotal documents like advance directives for health care, power of attorney, and either a will or a revocable living trust. With these documents, families can sidestep the protracted and expensive probate process following a loved one's passing or incapacity. These instruments also champion your privacy and ensure your wishes take precedence.

Our professionals, well-versed in long-term care planning and estate planning, offer insightful guidance to clients. They foster a nurturing ambiance, assisting clients through the intricate decisions tied to aging. Their approach is comprehensive; they listen intently, dispense judicious advice, and meticulously construct a legal blueprint that offers clients both security and peace of mind.

Additionally, we facilitate our clientele in procuring long-term care insurance, which can defray costs of assisted living, nursing home, or hospice services. To bolster asset preservation, we aid in setting up a pooled income trust, optimizing qualification for Medicaid and analogous government aid programs. With the guidance of an estate planning attorney, our team remains abreast of the evolving landscape of long-term care law, ensuring the solutions we provide are tailored to your unique circumstances.

While predicting the duration of long-term care someone might require remains elusive, one can forecast the escalating costs associated with these services. Thus, proactive planning, complemented by collaboration with a knowledgeable New York Elder Law and estate planning attorney, can significantly alleviate a family's financial strain and preclude expensive disputes or litigations, particularly during unforeseen adversities.


Estate Planning for NY Non-Citizens

There are approximately 45 million foreign-born individuals living in the United States, and they have a variety of unique estate planning concerns. Engaging with an estate planning attorney is crucial for these individuals. Some of these individuals have obtained citizenship, while others may remain non-citizens and/or hold property in other countries. Regardless of citizenship status, estate planning for these individuals is possible and necessary.

The most basic steps of an estate plan are the same for citizens and non-citizens – there should be a will or trust, beneficiaries should be named on insurance, bank, and retirement accounts and financial and medical powers of attorney must be put into place. However, working with a seasoned estate planning attorney can provide specialized knowledge for non-citizens. For example, New York has an estate tax, and non-citizens may not have access to the federal exemption amount of $5.85M (in 2020). Additionally, the situs rules of different jurisdictions impact how a client’s estate is administered.

As a result, it is important for practitioners to work with an international team of estate planning experts. Collaborating with an estate planning attorney familiar with international nuances can be invaluable. This approach can help them assist clients with their wealth preservation and distribution goals during life and at death.

In order to minimize the potential tax liability, non-citizens can implement a number of planning techniques. One of the most straightforward strategies involves a qualified domestic trust (QDOT). Partnering with an estate planning attorney can offer guidance in setting up a QDOT effectively. Essentially, a QDOT is an entity set up for the purpose of minimizing U.S. estate and gift taxes. A trustee is appointed to manage the assets and abide by the terms of the trust. The trustee can distribute the assets to non-citizens, as well as to other U.S. persons, and the trust can be transferred without incurring a gift tax or a U.S. estate tax.

Another way that non-citizens can reduce their estates is through careful gifting. While the estate tax exclusion is currently unlimited for residents and citizens, non-resident aliens have significantly lower gift tax exemption thresholds. Hence, securing the services of an estate planning attorney is crucial for these nuanced situations. It is essential that these individuals work closely with an experienced international attorney and a tax accountant to develop a coordinated plan.

Another challenge that can arise is the fact that a will or trust drafted in America may not be valid in the country where the individual lives. Collaborating with an estate planning attorney who understands these complexities can avoid potential pitfalls. The laws of different countries differ, and the executor or trustee must carefully review each country’s legal system to ensure that a will is valid and enforceable. Oftentimes, an individual will draft more than one will to avoid this problem. However, great care must be taken when drafting multiple wills to make sure that they do not inadvertently revoke one another or contain conflicting terms. Lastly, an estate plan drafted in the United States must comply with all applicable state law and must be filed with the federal government by nine months after the date of the decedent’s death unless an extension is requested.


New York Legacy Lawyers by Yana Feldman & Associates PLLC

New York Legacy Lawyers by Yana Feldman & Associates PLLC

132 32nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11232, United States

(718) 713-8080