Estate planning gives you so many benefits. Through estate planning, you can secure the financial future of those who depend on you right now. When you pass away, you can still be providing for them, enabling them live the life they deserve. Also, estate planning allows you plan for sudden incapacity. You can make decisions now which would be strictly adhered to when you become incapacitated, possibly due to old age. You would have a say regarding how your financial affairs will be run because you had appointed and authorized someone over such affairs, and they would be legally bind to act in your best interest.
Estate planning gives you peace of mind that your wishes will be honored. But to get the best of estate planning, it’s advisable you seek the professional assistance of a highly skilled estate planning.
Estate planning attorney
An estate planning attorney brings so much to the table. With your best interest at heart, they discuss with you to understand your needs to develop an estate plan that works best for you. In this article, we shall be looking at some reasons why you need to hire an estate planning attorney near you.
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5 reasons why you should hire an estate planning attorney in New York
1. Minimizing estate tax
Before your loved ones can inherit your property, they may be subject to huge costs, including probate fees, debts, state estate tax, and federal estate tax. Note that your estate would be subject to estate tax if it values above the threshold. Currently, the New York estate tax exemption amount is $5.85 million. If your estate value is more than this, then 5-16% of it will be going to the state of New York.
These costs put together can eat a huge chunk of your estate, a part better disbursed to your loved ones. To enable your beneficiaries get the most out of your estate, an estate planning attorney can employ certain estate planning strategies, such as:
- Execution of irrevocable trusts
- Ownership by joint tenancy
- Gifting
- Using pour-over wills.
These strategies are complex and require experienced handling. It’s best to have an estate planning attorney do it for you.
2. Ensuring your will says exactly what you want it to say
It is one thing to mean a thing; it is another thing to write what you mean exactly as you mean it. Estate planning is a legal matter, and since your will must pass through the court, you need to use the appropriate terms in order to avoid confusion, ambiguity, and inconsistency. A professional highly-skilled in such legal matters will know the right terms as they are recognized by the court. To prevent your family from having headaches when you pass away, get help from an estate planning attorney near you.
3. Customizing your will
If you have an estate comprising some cars, a house, and bank account, it wouldn’t be difficult for you to draft your will, especially when your family consists of a spouse and children. However, some certain cases would require you to customize your will according to your peculiar estate and family situation. If you are in any of the following situations, then it’s in your best interest to work with an attorney:
- You have property in multiple states
- You’re worried that your estate value will exceed the estate tax exemption threshold
- You have complexly owned assets
- You are in a blended family with kids from the previous marriage
- You have minors
- You have a child with special needs.
4. Ensuring your estate plan complies with state laws
Estate plan is a legal matter and every New York estate planning document is bound by New York law. Inadequate understanding of these laws can cause you to make costly mistakes, hence throwing your family into problems when you pass away. In trying to correct your mistakes, they may incur expenses, but that is if the mistake is correctable. For example, naming a legally unacceptable person as your executor or trustee cannot be corrected, and your wish will therefore not be honored.
5. Keeping your estate plan updated
Estate planning is not something you do once and for all. In fact, as you continue to live, your situation may change and such changes would require you to review your estate plan. Say, you get divorced, your wife gives birth to a child, you acquire a new property, or lose your successor trustee, executor, or attorney-in-fact, etc. Each of these circumstances warrants a consequent change in your estate plan. You would want to create a place for your new child and spouse in your will or trust, and remove the names of those you’ve lost. You would also have to address your new assets.
The truth is that your job may not give you enough time to review your estate plan, which is why you should have an estate planning attorney do it for you periodically. They would also ensure the documents comply with the current laws (given the fact that New York tax laws often change).
Estate Planning Attorneys near me 14233
Our estate planning attorneys serve Buffalo, NY 14233. Let us give you the help you need. Call us today for a free consultation.
