Post: LONG ISLAND ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY

LONG ISLAND ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY

LONG ISLAND ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY

LONG ISLAND ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY

Estate plans can only be implemented with the necessary valid documents. These documents includes, last will and testament, Living trust- revocable and irrevocable living trust, advance medical directive and financial power of attorney. Through each document, you can protect your finances and assets.

Consequently, the first step to plan you estate is to contact a Long Island estate planning attorney and to start evaluating and estimating your estate and assets values. The next step would be to decide which form of estate plans that adequately fit your situation.

Last Will and testament: a will based estate plan holds a detailed list of instructions as to how your property should be shared after you die. If you have minor children, it contains provision for appointing a guardian for your children. However, will still have to under a court vetting process called, probate. This will involve the court deciding whether the will is valid enough to be documented.

Living Trust: Trust forms a vital part of your estate plan. You can decide who takes over plans of your estate, make financial decisions over your assets both while you are alive or dead as well as when you become mentally incapacitated. Through trust also, a trustee could make certain important health decisions for you, when you become incapable of doing so. This is quite similar to the role of a guardian. In forming a trust, you become the trust maker and the beneficiary or successor of the trust is the trustee.

Making a decision between a Trust and a Will comes down to personal decisions on your estate plan. There are various types of trust, but majorly the irrevocable living trust and revocable living trust. Contact a long Island estate planning attorney to arrange for the suitable type of trust.

Benefits of Living Trust are:

  • Legality and permanency: with a living trust, the transfer of ownership of an asset or possession can be done permanently.
  • Avoiding probate: probate is a court supervised process of transferring assets from of a deceased to the beneficiaries.
  • Avoid excessive taxes: this is another important reason for establishing a trust. Under the IRS law, the only trust that avoids estate taxes is the irrevocable trust.

Financial power of attorney: a power of attorney help you protect your finances and assets. This documents allows you delegate to the person your choice the ability to manage your assets and make important decisions should you become mentally incapable. This documents can be used in two form as a durable power of attorney and a springing power of attorney. The documents helps to still retain your assets even while you are incapable.

Advance medical directive: Advance medical directive is also known as a medical power of attorney, you get to designate a health agent to make medical decisions when you are unable to do so. This same document could be filed in court to should it be someone needs to be your guardian or conservator.

Why you need to plan you estate

  • Estate plans will ensure your properties goes straight to the right beneficiaries. When your estate plans are properly written with necessary documents, there won’t be need for court settlement or family discord.
  • Estate plans helps you to plan for any kind of unpredicted incapacity. Good and bad occurrences happen in life. It is your duty to manage each situation positivity, and one way to do that is to make estate plans. If you should ever become mentally or physically incapacitated, an estate plans, would outline your wishes and interest about who manages your assets, who makes financial or medical decision on your behalf.
  • Estate plans helps to avoid excessive taxes on your estate. By preparing an estate plans, taxes imposed on you estate would be reduced. This can be achieved majorly through the irrevocable living trust of estate planning document.
  • Planning your estate prevents probate. With the living trust which is a type of estate planning document, you can ensure that your estate plan wishes gets implemented without going through the long rigorous process of probate in court. Probate is a court supervised process of transferring assets from of a deceased to the beneficiaries.

Contact a Long island estate planning attorney to make the appropriate enquires.