Wills are legal documents that outline your intentions regarding how you would like your assets distributed, as well as assigning guardians for any children or animals you might leave behind.
Wills must generally be in writing, signed by the testator and witnessed by at least two individuals. Consulting a wills lawyer can assist in developing an estate plan to protect your assets while reducing probate costs and delays.
Preparing a Will
Wills (also called last will and testaments) allow you to determine how your personal belongings, property and assets should be divided upon death. They also appoint an executor who will carry out your wishes and list beneficiaries. It’s essential that if something in your life changes – for instance divorce or remarriage – updates should be made to your will accordingly.
An experienced wills attorney can assist in helping you to decide who should receive your estate and property, while creating trusts to reduce taxes and protect family privacy. Furthermore, they may arrange power of attorneys that make health care decisions on your behalf should you become incapable of doing it on your own.
An experienced New York wills lawyer can provide a comprehensive plan for your estate and bring peace of mind to you and your loved ones. While online will services may offer to create one for you, their will may not be as comprehensive and may need further review by a legal professional.
Making Changes to a Will
Life changes often necessitate updating wills and estate plans; changes such as having children, divorce, or death of beneficiaries often necessitate making adjustments to one’s will and estate plan.
Changes to Wills should ideally be created from scratch; however, if only needing minor details changed it’s possible to add an amendment known as a codicil and sign it with all necessary formalities to remain valid.
Notifying heirs about any changes to the will can help ensure that there will be no unpleasant surprises upon your death, reducing chances of disputes over final wishes.
Advising on Incapacity Planning
An estate plan must account for the possibility that you could become incapacitated. This should not just be of concern to elderly individuals or those living with serious health conditions; anyone could experience an accident that leaves them incapacitated. Without proper legal documents in place, loved ones could face lengthy court proceedings to determine who will manage both your personal and financial affairs.
Incapacity planning refers to using legal tools like power of attorney, advance directives and HIPAA authorizations that offer a comprehensive solution to protecting and administering assets in case of incapacity. Furthermore, such planning ensures that your heirs receive what you intended them to in terms of an inheritance.
Your incapacity plan should include a healthcare proxy, which allows you to choose someone else to make medical decisions on your behalf, and a living will. Both documents outline your end-of-life preferences such as whether or not life support should be kept going; additionally, DNR (do not resuscitate) orders inform medical professionals not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation when you’re close to death.
Creating Trusts
Establishing trusts can be a useful alternative approach to estate planning on Long Island. Consulting a lawyer about which strategy best fits your circumstances can assist in making this decision.
Revocable living trusts established during your lifetime allow your beneficiaries to gain access to assets much faster and without incurring expensive probate costs. A trustee can oversee asset management based on specific instructions. Furthermore, trusts allow you to exclude portions of your estate from tax-payer inheritance – something wills cannot do.
Your attorney can explain the different types of trusts available to you, such as revocable and irrevocable trusts. They can also help you select an accountable successor trustee that fits with your financial needs – perhaps your spouse, adult children, other relatives, a close friend or business you trust could all make great candidates; others might opt for corporate trustees which offer objective reliability at reasonable fees. A will contains important funeral wishes such as burial or cremation preference as well as where this should happen.
