Considerations for Planning Your Estate

Everyone, at a certain point in their lives, needs to consider what will happen when they must face the end. Life cannot go on forever, but you can at least make sure that your loved ones are taken care of after you’re gone. To properly plan your estate, however, you need to think about more than simply who will receive your things after you’re gone.

The most basic part of estate planning, of course, is creating a last will and testament. At its simplest, your last will and testament should allocate your property in a way that suits your needs, but that’s not all you need to consider. If you have any minor children or other dependents, for example, you can use your will to appoint a legal guardian for them. You can also appoint someone to take care of your pets. You will also want to appoint an executor for your estate to manage the disposal of your property after you pass away.

However, the last will and testament isn’t the only tool at your disposal for estate planning. Another important tool is the trust, which is an arrangement where you entrust someone else to manage money or property on your behalf. Depending on how you structure a trust, it can help protect your estate from undue taxation. Also, property in a trust has the added benefit of being nontestamentary, which means that it doesn’t need to go through probate court. This will save time, money and stress from dealing with the probate process.

There are plenty of other considerations you will need to think about when you’re planning your estate, however. If you want to write a will, form a trust, or explore other estate planning options, please call the experienced attorneys at Wingate, Kearney & Cullen, LLP. We have assisted and advised clients with asset planning and the transfer of wealth and made sure their needs are provided for. With law offices conveniently located in Brooklyn, New York, and Melville, New York, our lawyers are available to assist residents of the five boroughs of New York City and Nassau and Suffolk County on Long Island with their estate planning needs. If you are looking to develop your own comprehensive estate plan, call (718) 852-5900.