Bronx Estate Planning Lawyers

Helping You Plan for the Future

Effective estate planning takes more than merely writing a will, and estate planning aren’t strictly for the elderly and the affluent. If your loved ones are counting on you, it’s time to start planning your estate now with proper guidance from the right Bronx estate planning lawyer.

Estate planning is imperative for business owners, families, and for anyone who intends to provide for their loved ones. Proper estate planning creates a set of complex and detailed legal documents to ensure that your directions are carried out faithfully when that time comes.

When you take your estate planning needs to the Law Offices of Thomas J. Lavin, you’ll work with a New York estate planning lawyer who will protect your long-term interests, answer your estate planning questions, and address your concerns until your estate plan is complete.

An estate planning lawyer will help you create a last will and testament or a trust, a living will, health care proxy documents, and power-of-attorney forms. To get started or learn more, call our law office at 718-306-9162 for a free first estate planning consultation.

What Can Happen if You Don’t Have an Estate Plan?

An estate plan makes your wishes for the future unmistakably clear. Without an estate plan, if you become incapacitated in the future, a loved one or a court may have to make legal or financial decisions for you that may not be the decisions you would have wanted.

After your death, the lack of an estate plan could tie up your assets in probate court for months or years, and then your assets may not be distributed according to your wishes. An estate plan can help you avoid probate and help your loved ones know what they will receive and when.

What Else Will an Estate Plan Accomplish?

Most people know that a last will and testament is a legal document that provides instructions for settling someone’s estate after that person’s death during probate. Even if your own estate is quite modest, a last will and testament – or a trust – really is something that everyone should have.

Whether you create a trust or a last will and testament as part of your estate plan, that document will let you:

• name who receives your assets and property and when
• name a guardian for your minor children and any assets left to your children
• name a guardian for your pets
• indicate how taxes, debts, and other outstanding obligations are to be paid

You can accomplish all of this with a last will and testament, but more complicated issues, conditions, or final instructions – and more complicated estates – usually require the creation of a trust. Your Bronx living will attorney will know whether a trust or a will is more appropriate in your own situation.

What Other Documents May Be Needed?

A number of other documents may also be a part of your estate plan. Every client’s circumstances differ, so the documents and forms you may require will depend on your personal situation and needs. Attorney Thomas J. Lavin helps clients create estate plans that may include:

• wills
• revocable and irrevocable trusts
• healthcare proxies and financial powers-of-attorney
• living wills

A will can be critical to ensuring your assets are properly distributed to your family following your death during probate. Probate is the process in which your estate is distributed to your heirs. A will can dictate which assets go to what beneficiaries. A will can be a valuable tool in your elder law plan. Trusts can be especially valuable in protecting your family and the assets of your estate. Assets ranging from your liquid capital, stocks, real estate, and more can be protected from creditors and lawsuits through an effective trust. Trusts can even help your family skip the costly and time-consuming probate process following your death. Probate is often considered an unavoidable aspect of death for most people. However, probate can be a thing of the past with the help of an elder law lawyer. There are a variety of trusts that can benefit specific areas of your life. Talk to our team of elder law attorneys today to set up the right elder law document for you.

Why Will You Need an Attorney’s Help?

All sorts of generic estate planning forms and do-it-yourself estate planning “kits” are available for purchase online. Avoid them entirely. Generic and fill-in-the-blank estate planning forms will provide neither the specificity nor the full legal protection that your assets and properties need.

Generic estate plan forms can create unforeseen discrepancies and ambiguities, but a New York attorney who has substantial estate planning experience can create the customized estate plan that is just right for you, your estate, and your loved ones.

Our law office can create effective, enforceable estate planning documents to address your personal situation and your wishes in a way that is clear and precise.

Should Your Estate Plan Be Updated?

Your estate plan should be reviewed periodically – every three to five years is right for most people – with the assistance of your lawyer, who will recommend any updates and revisions that may be in your best interests or may be required by law.

If you gain new assets or property, revise your estate plan documents to include these gains. If you marry, legally separate, divorce, have a child, or if your relationship changes with anyone who is named in your estate plan, you should update your estate plan as quickly as possible.

You should also consider a revision if you relocate to another state because the states have slightly different estate planning requirements. Your estate planning attorney from our law office can suggest the revisions that may be needed or refer you to an estate planning attorney in your new home state.

How Do I Find the Right Estate Planning Law Firm for My Needs?

No one knows what tomorrow may bring, but the estate planning team at the Law Offices of Thomas J. Lavin helps our clients prepare for whatever may arise. Whether you are protecting your assets, want to help your estate skip the probate process, want to protect your real estate, or want to prepare for the worst-case scenario, our law office and our team of elder law lawyers will help you create the estate planning legal documents that will put your loved ones in the best position for dealing with the future.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Thomas J. Lavin provide proven and effective estate planning advice and services. Our law firm protects our estate planning clients, their interests, and their families by ensuring that estate plans reflect each client’s wishes in a precise, unequivocal manner.

To start the estate planning process or to learn more, contact our Bronx law office at 718-306-9162 – or use the contact form on this website – and schedule a free, confidential meeting to discuss your estate planning questions and needs.