Estate Planning

Do you know what would happen legally to you, your loved ones, your money if something unexpected happened to you?

Even if you don’t have an estate plan, the State of New York has a plan for you.

Do you know what the people you love would have to deal with if something unexpected happen to you? If you don’t know, then the first step is to find out exactly what would happen, legally and financially, so that you can decide if you want to change the plan the State of New York has in store for your family.

To do this, we conduct a Family Estate Planning Session. During our session, which lasts a couple of hours, you’ll let me know about your family and the things that are important to you. Then, we will learn about estate planning and how it impacts you and your family, so you can make informed decisions.

Before your Family Estate Planning Session, you will complete an Estate Planning Worksheet, which will help you to get clarity about what you own. It will also help you think about your priorities, when it comes to planning for the well-being and care of your loved ones.

If you decide that your current state of affairs and what New York’s plan would be unacceptable, and if we both decide that it’s a fit to work together, then we can design an estate plan together that will best suit your goals and the needs of your family.

The foundation of your estate plan will often include a Revocable Living Trust, which is created by transferring your property into a Trust, for your benefit, during your lifetime. One of the benefits of a Revocable Living Trust is, when done correctly and maintained over time, your estate plan should help your family to avoid the expense and time, of the process of probate, and minimize or eliminate estate taxes.

For people with additional needs, we provide advanced estate planning services, such as Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts and Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, to name but a few.

Unfortunately, most estate plans don’t work because much of what passes for estate planning is not much more than word processing. You are asked a few questions and then the attorney (or worse, online document preparation service) decides which “plan” is right for you, and fits you into their template. This is not estate planning; it is little more than a “search and replace” of your family’s name and then a hit of the “print” button which spits out form documents.

At Monet Binder Law, P.C., you and your family will never be treated like just another number. We will educate you, take the time to get to know you, your family, your concerns, your goals and your issues and will gladly and patiently answer all your questions to produce an estate plan that is exactly right for you.