Experienced and Compassionate New York Estate Planning Attorney

The Five Essential Estate Planning Documents You Should Have

1. Will
A will is a legal document used to express your last wishes. It dictates how your estate will be allocated after death.
2. Durable Power of Attorney
This gives an individual the ability to make decisions in the case you become incapacitated and cannot handle matters yourself.
3. Healthcare Power of Attorney
This legal document allows you to appoint a trustee to make decisions about your healthcare if you become unable to do so.
4. Living Will
This legal document states your expressed wishes for medical care if you were to be under certain medical circumstances.
5. Revocable Living Trust
Revocable living trusts are a popular estate planning tool used to determine who gets your estate after your death.

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How An Estate Planning Law Firm In NY Will Help You: Actions We Will Take On Your Behalf

No two estate plans are quite alike, but all require some or all of the following twelve actions to be taken with your estate planning attorney:

1. Inventory property to determine what you own and what you owe.
2. Understand how your property is owned.
3. Name beneficiaries.
4. Identify strategies to avoid probate or to reduce the amount of property which must pass through probate court.
5. Create a will / draft a Last Will and Testament.
6. Use trusts, if necessary.
7. Evaluate insurance policies.
8. Identify strategies to minimize taxes and expenses associated with the distribution of your estate.
9. Select professionals to assist with the development of an estate plan.
10. Review and update your plan as the need arises.
11. Plan for the expenses of your funeral and burial or other form of body disposition.
12. Plan for liquidity of assets to pay debts.

These actions ensure that property will go to those you select in an orderly and economical fashion, but most importantly, they will ease the administrative burden placed on your survivors who are already trying to deal with the emotional trauma of death. You will also avoid costly mistakes, which we document below.

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6 Common Estate Planning Mistakes To Avoid

Have you evaluated your family’s estate planning and elder law needs? Our estate planning attorneys have put the following list together for you. The six most common estate planning mistakes made are:

1. Not Having an Estate Plan
This is the #1 common estate planning mistake. However, death is inevitable. With careful planning, you can make sure that your personal and financial affairs are handled properly after your death.

2. Forgetting to Update Your Will
During your lifetime, many changes can occur including new births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and the acquisition of new property. It is important to update your will so that you can account for these changes.

3. Putting Your Child's Name on the Deed
By placing your child's name on the deed to your home, you are giving your child financial headaches as he or she will have to face high estate taxes. Consider creating an estate plan that passes on the home through an inheritance.

4. Choosing the Wrong Estate Executor
Sometimes people choose a spouse or child to be the executor of the estate. However, there may be someone else that can handle your estate when you are gone who is not as personally invested and is able to handle the extensive duties better.

5. Not Planning for Disability
An estate plan also helps you plan for unexpected or long term disability as well as any lon. Without proper planning for disability, you may have greater personal and financial consequences to face. Therefore you should consider appointing a power of attorney or a living trust to address these circumstances.

6. Not Meeting with an Estate Planning Attorney
Without a professional estate planning attorney, you may create an improper estate plan. If you have complicated assets or doubts about creating your own estate plan, you should consider meeting with an attorney for estate planning.

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5 Most Frequently Asked Estate Planning Questions

1. What assets can I transfer into my Trust?

Any property real or personal can be transferred into the trust with the exception of the IRA plans and Life Insurance policies. Although you cannot transfer your IRAs into the trust there are ways to ensure that the IRA funds will be received by the beneficiaries even if the beneficiaries are minor children. An experienced estate planning attorney will explain the process to you in great details and complete all transfers into the trust in accordance with applicable state law. Law Office of Inna Fershteyn and Assoictates, P.C. represents clients in their estate planning even if the property is located in NY, NJ, PA, CT, FL, CA, WA and other states.

2. Why should I do the Trust? Can I just transfer the title to my real estate to my children?

It is never a good idea to just transfer a deed from one name to another. By transferring your assets outright you are not only making a gift which is a taxable event, but you are also incurring real estate transfer taxes and other fees that can be easily avoided with proper estate planning from an experienced trusts and estates lawyer in New York. Moreover, the person who receives a gift outright will automatically inherit donor’s tax basis on the property which could have appreciated in value significantly over the years. This will in turn cause capital gain taxes to be much higher than if the property were to  pass to the same person through a Will or a Trust.  The estate tax lawyer at the Law Office of Inna Fershteyn and Associates, P.C. can help you accomplish the same goal of transferring property to your loved ones and reduce tax burden, but do it as a tax exempt transaction and with minimal capital gains.

3. Will Medicaid take my house if I get into a nursing home or other long term care facility?

The answer depends on your particular situation. If you live with your spouse and only one of you gets into the nursing home without proper elder care planning in place, the house will remain in the other spouse’s possession during his life.  However, the Medicaid can put a lien on the house if the proper Medicaid planning is missing.  Thus, losing your home to pay back to Medicaid is a real possibility.   At Law Office of Inna Fershteyn and Associates, P.C.  we specialize in medicaid planning, elder law planning and asset protection for over 18 years.  Our experienced attorneys will evaluate your long term care needs and will find optimal solution for you and your family to protect your estate from nursing home claims.

4. How long does it take to probate a Will? How much shall my beneficiaries pay to put my Will through probate?

In New York probating a Will may take anywhere from 12 to 18 months.  Unfortunately Kings county probate is the most complicated and cumbersome process.  Probate fees and expenses will depend on the value of the estate, and can range from $600- $10,000 depending on the amount of assets that estate has.  Law Office of Inna Fershteyn and Associates, P.C. are experienced Kings county and New York county probate attorneys and have been representing clients in NY Surrogate court for over 18 years.  Call our office at 718-333-2394 to save time and money on probate proceeding in the state of NY.

5. What is a difference between a Trust and a Will?

The simple answer to this question is a will has to undergo a process of “Probate” in the surrogate's court of the state where the decedent died, which is a long and complicated procedure no matter what state you are in.  In New York, it takes over one year to probate the will and the cost of such probate can be as high as 6% of the value of the entire estate. The will is not valid unless it is probated and the letters of testamentary are issued.  A Trust does not need to go through probate and allows your beneficiaries to get access to your estate immediately after the death of the settlor of the trust without going through any court proceedings. While it typically costs more to set up the trust than draft a will, a trust is a more cost effective way of owning your assets and allows one to pass its estate to the beneficiary without extra expenses of probate. A trust also becomes effective on the day of its creation while a will is only legal on the day when the Surrogates court “validates the will” and issues letters of testamentary.

I live in NYC. Do I Need Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the arrangement for the orderly transfer of your assets after your death. The ideal estate plan created by an experienced estate planning lawyer will minimize taxes and expenses and will avoid the probate process altogether to make sure that the assets reach intended heirs as soon as possible.

Some mistakenly believe that an “estate plan” is a single document with a standardized format drawn up by an attorney. It’s not. An estate plan is a highly individualized set of documents created by an experienced trust and estate lawyer based on your unique situation and circumstances.

Other common misconceptions are that estate plans are only for the wealthy or those in their later years of life. This is also a false assumption. Who can define “wealthy” and who can predict when his or her last year of life will occur?

Law Office of Inna Fershteyn and Associates, P.C. understands that estate planning is personal. The best trust and estate lawyers in New York will work diligently to ensure that individual concerns are carefully addressed and goals are met. With our extensive knowledge of trust and estate administration, we will work with you to develop a comprehensive estate plan and offer knowledgeable guidance that will give you peace of mind as well as secure your family’s future.

For estate planning help, contact us today! Call (718) 333-2394 to set up a consultation or contact us online.  Call (718) 333-2394 to set up a consultation or contact us online.

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Estate Planning Case Closed

One of our clients wanted to leave an inheritance to not only his children, but to a few specific charities. Attorney Inna Fershteyn drafted two separate trusts, one that had just the client’s family as the beneficiaries and the other trust was strictly for charities. The attorney helped the client transfer all the real estate into the trusts and our clients worked with a financial advisor who came into the office specifically for their case to open up a trust account.

One of our clients wanted to draft a document that would bypass probate. The attorney suggested a trust, which is considered a non probatable asset. To further protect the client’s assets, the attorney drafted an irrevocable trust for the client. Once the client executed the document, the attorney created a Tax ID No. for the trust and helped the client transfer assets into a trust.

The client's father died, his name was on the deed to the house that was worth 1.5 million dollars. He was survived by his second wife and his two kids from a prior marriage. There was a concern that after step-mother’s death her step kids will not receive their share of father’s estate as they are not blood relatives of their step mother. There was also a concern of potential estate litigation as step mom’s relatives didn’t want his kids to inherit. Stop mom also wanted to leave part of the estate to her own 2 sisters who had kids if their own.

Our office took all these concerns into account and has created a comprehensive estate plan for the family geared towards protecting step children and avoiding probate and any potential challenges.

We created a Revocable Living Trust, left one share of the estate to each surviving stepchild and one share of the estate to the step mother’s sisters. Together with a Will, Living Will, Health Care Proxy, Power of Attorney, and Revocable Trust, we were able to ensure that when step mother dies, the estate will pass to the Beneficiaries avoiding probate and any litigation. We also minimized any potential tax consequences.

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ESTATE PLANNING TESTIMONIALS

“Inna is an amazing lawyer. She helped us with asset protection and estate planning for our estate in New Jersey. She was highly recommended by our CPA and we are very happy to take his advice.  She is a responsible and pleasant individual. Highly recommend.” -Peter F.

“Inna is the top Trust and estate attorney . Very nice and professional, very knowledgeable and easy to communicate with.” -Margaret G.

“I found Inna when I was searching for an estate attorney. At my consultation she immediately understood my concerns as a new single mother and told me how to best address them. I not only felt confident in Inna's abilities, I also felt comfortable with her and her staff. After retaining her, her office promptly drafted trust documents, which I appreciated. I highly recommend her, and would use her again for any future needs.” - Loulia F.

“After hours of searching for an estate planning attorney for my parents, Inna clearly stood out - her reviews (of which there were hundreds of 5 star reviews) were amazing, and I knew that my parents would be in good hands with her… If I could give more than 5 stars, I would!” – Daniel G.

"There is no one I would trust more than Inna to handle my families estate planning.… The paperwork was all done very efficiently, not to mention her services were very fairly priced. If I ever need legal advice or any services for me or my family, I definitely will be coming to Inna again!" - Jen K.

"Did our estate planning/trust with Inna. She is very knowledgeable, professional and explains very clearly. Would recommend her to everyone and will sure to be back in the future. Thank you!!!" - Elvira I.

"I came to Inna Fershteyn office with my parents to do our family's estate planning. We are very impressed by how attorney conducts her business and her knowledge. She was very direct and straight to the point. I would definitely recommend her office to anyone who is looking for attorney's help." – Anton L.

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ESTATE PLANNING ARTICLES

• How to Incorporate Adopted Children or Stepchildren In Your Estate Plan
• 5 Tips for Choosing The Right Executor For Your Estate
• When is it necessary to review or change my estate plan?
• 5 Steps to Take When Caring for Someone With Dementia
• 6 Common Mistakes in Estate Planning to Avoid
• How to Start Talking to Relatives About Estate Planning
• 5 Ways to Make Charitable Giving A Part of Your Estate Plan
• How to Incorporate Adopted Children or Stepchildren In Your Estate Plan
• Wills & Prenups – Which Takes Priority?
• Will My Advance Directives Be Valid In Other States?
• Survivorship Requirement – What If My Beneficiaries Pass Away?
• Estate Essentials: What Do I Name My Trust?
• Estate Essentials: What Do I Include in My Explanatory Letter?
• 10 Don’ts of Estate Planning
• Meeting your Estate Planning Attorney: 5 Things to Prepare
• Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Do Estate Planning
• The Importance Of Estate Planning: Myths Debunked
• Estate Planning Importance Myths Infographic
• Four Common Mistakes That Can Derail Your Estate Planning
• Top 4 Reasons Why Everyone Hates Probate
• Common Mistakes People Make To Avoid Probate
• 5 Steps to Ensure Financial Stability for your Elders
• Even Your Sperm Needs A Will
• More Than 50% of Americans Have No Will
• Digital Assets and Estate Planning: 4 Things You Need to Know