Life comes with few guarantees except one. At some point, we all pass away. With that in mind, the best thing you can do for the ones you leave behind is to create a comprehensive estate plan. A well-structured estate plan preserves your assets and maximizes the wealth you pass on to the next generation. It can also guide your loved ones in making difficult decisions if the unthinkable occurs, sparing everyone from heartache and avoidable legal hurdles.
If you have questions about estate planning in Brewster, NY, the experienced attorneys at Amoruso & Amoruso LLP can help. Founders Michael J. Amoruso and Sreelekha Chakrabarty Amoruso have nearly 60 years of combined experience helping residents of Brewster and nearby communities build tailored estate plans based on their unique needs and goals.
Our signature comprehensive estate planning service includes more than just drafting a will. We work directly with you to develop customized strategies drawing on our extensive knowledge of New York laws surrounding estate planning, elder law, and long-term care planning.
Even if you already have an estate plan, allow Amoruso & Amoruso LLP to give it a thorough review. We’ll identify any areas that could use revisions or corrections and advise you on options for making it better based on your individual goals. Be assured that, if no changes are needed, we will tell you and you will have the peace of mind that your plan accomplishes your objectives. Contact us today to learn how a Brewster, NY, estate planning lawyer can help you.
What’s the Importance of Having an Estate Plan?
Many people put off estate planning until much later in life because they think it’s something only older adults or the wealthy do. However, estate plans can benefit adults of all ages and income brackets.
First, an estate plan can preserve the value of the assets you pass on to loved ones. Your property or financial assets will be protected for your heirs via an estate plan. This can help minimize tax liabilities or eliminate probate costs.
Estate planning also enables you to protect your children if the worst happens. You can nominate someone in your will to serve as guardian for your children if they lose both parents. Other estate planning tools allow you to protect your children’s inheritances until they are mature enough to manage the inheritance themselves.
Finally, estate plans can prevent family conflicts over your wishes or intentions if you pass away or become incapacitated. You can choose who will manage or settle your affairs and provide them with guidance and instructions about your preferences and goals.
What Is Comprehensive Estate Planning?
Estate planning allows you to arrange your and your family’s affairs and plan for the future. The main goal of an estate plan involves establishing who will inherit assets and how those assets will transfer. However, our comprehensive estate planning digs deeper. A comprehensive estate plan should include long-term financial planning, tax planning, and long-term care planning if needed. It also guides financial, legal, or medical decisions if you become incapacitated. It is a thorough, holistic approach that ensures no stone is left unturned when preparing for the future and is our signature service at Amoruso & Amoruso LLP.
What Makes Up Comprehensive Estate Planning?
Comprehensive estate planning uses many strategies and legal instruments to address concerns and goals you have for your future. Structures and tools frequently used as part of a comprehensive estate plan include the following:
Elder Law/Long-Term Care Planning
Elder law addresses the changing needs of older adults as they age. This can involve using legal strategies to protect eligibility for Medicaid and pay for long-term care in nursing homes, memory care centers, or other facilities.
Wills
A will is the centerpiece of an estate plan. It allows you to outline how you want your assets distributed after your death, appoint someone to administer the estate, and nominate guardians for your minor children if you and your co-parent die.
Trusts
With a trust, a trustee holds and manages assets for beneficiaries according to terms set by you. Trusts are often used in estate planning to manage finances and distribute inheritances while minimizing tax liabilities and probate costs.
Living Trusts
A living trust becomes effective during your lifetime. These trusts enable you to specify how to distribute your assets after death. However, you can still use and enjoy the assets during your lifetime.
Estate/Gift/Income Tax Planning
Taxes can diminish the value of your estate and reduce the wealth you can pass on to your loved ones. Comprehensive estate planning includes identifying ways to minimize tax liabilities through exemptions, deductions, gifting, and other strategies.
Financial Planning
A comprehensive estate plan should work in tandem with your financial planning goals. This includes saving and investing for retirement or putting money away for your children’s education.
Retirement Planning
Estate planning must also consider planning for retirement so you have the financial resources you need to live comfortably in your golden years.
Medicaid Planning
People frequently rely on Medicaid to help pay for long-term care or nursing home costs. Medicaid planning helps you become eligible for benefits while protecting your assets from the high costs of elder care.
Planning to Leave Assets to Loved Ones in a Way That Protects the Assets
Depending on your situation, you may be concerned about what happens to the assets you leave to family members. Fortunately, estate planning tools can empower you to provide for loved ones and continue to protect them.
Assets from Divorce, Creditors, Spendthrifts, and Substance Abuse
Specific estate planning tools can protect the assets you pass on from potential issues like divorce or substance abuse. For example, a spendthrift trust can provide a beneficiary with restricted income to avoid irresponsible spending while shielding your assets from creditors.
Business Succession Planning
If you spent your career building a successful business in Brewster, you may want to pass that asset to your family. Succession planning can help ensure your company’s continued viability. A business succession plan enables successors to take on management duties if you become incapacitated, retire, or die.
Special Needs Planning
If you have a loved one with special needs, you can ensure resources are available for them in your estate plan. Typical special needs planning tools include:
- Supplemental Needs Trusts – This is a specific type of trust designed to use third-party or inherited dollars to enhance the quality of life for a beneficiary, over and above any government benefits. These funds do not count toward a beneficiary’s resource limits for government programs, allowing them to remain eligible for these benefits.
- Special Needs Trusts – This is a specific type of trust designed to use an individual’s own assets to enhance his/her life. The assets held in these trusts do not count toward a beneficiary’s resource limits for government programs, allowing them to remain eligible for these benefits.
- Supported Decision-Making – In supported decision-making, a team of advisors helps an individual with special needs make life decisions. This empowers capable individuals to retain independence as an alternative to guardianship.
- 17-A Guardianship – In New York State, courts can hold Article 17-A proceedings to appoint a guardian for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Charitable Planning
Charitable planning enables you to leave a lasting legacy through gifts and bequests while simultaneously realizing tax benefits.
What Are Other Elements of a Successful Estate Plan?
Comprehensive estate planning may include other tools or considerations, such as the following:
- Advance Directives – Advance directives are legal documents such as a health care proxy, a power of attorney, and a disposition of remains. A Health Care Proxy appoints someone you choose to make medical decisions (including end-of-life decisions) for you. A Power of Attorney will allow a trusted family member or friend to handle your financial and/or legal matters. This can be helpful if you face an illness or injury or you lack mental capacity. With life care planning, your family has the guidance and tools necessary to make financial and health care decisions when you cannot do so.
- Guardianship – Naming a trusted guardian can put your mind at ease by establishing a plan for who can care for your children or other dependents if you no longer can.
- Probate, Estate, and Trust Administration – Estate planning requires you to appoint someone to manage your estate after your death or to serve as trustee of any trusts you establish.
How Much Does an Estate Plan Cost in Brewster?
The costs of estate planning will depend on various factors, including the size of your estate and the strategies used to achieve your goals. However, comprehensive estate planning can provide a return on your investment, both during your life and after you are gone. Effective planning can save you money by reducing your tax obligations and eliminating the need for probate. An estate plan can also provide reassurance that you have prepared for the future and provided for the ones you love.
How Can a Brewster, NY, Estate Planning Attorney Help?
A Brewster estate planning attorney from Amoruso & Amoruso LLP can craft a comprehensive estate plan customized for your unique situation. When you turn to our firm for help with your estate plan, we will:
- Identify your estate assets
- Recommend the most beneficial estate planning tools to meet your needs and goals
- Advise you on the selection of guardians, trustees, and executors
- Draft your last will and testament
- Establish trusts based on your personal financial and family situation
- Prepare advance directives
- Set up powers of attorney
- Draft business succession plans, if applicable
- Discuss ways to minimize tax consequences on your estate
- Explain ways to increase your privacy and bypass probate
- Review your estate plan over time to ensure it continues to meet your needs and complies with
- New York law
- Provide caring, compassionate crisis planning
Contact an Experienced Estate Planning Lawyer in Brewster, NY, Today
At Amoruso & Amoruso LLP, we’re with you for the long haul. No matter how complex the circumstances, our estate planning attorneys can analyze your situation and put together a comprehensive estate plan that withstands the test of time. At Amoruso & Amoruso LLP, we have one motto: Empowering You to Care for the Ones You Love™. Let us set you up for success no matter what the future holds. Contact us today to speak with an accomplished Brewster, NY, estate planning lawyer.
