If you have assets that will likely appreciate in value, including property that provides income or stocks that demonstrate growth potential, there are ways you can plan accordingly to help you avoid severe tax consequences that might otherwise be related to retaining these assets or allowing them to become part…
Inheriting physical real estate, such as a home or vacation cabin, can be tricky to navigate. You have to consider your desire for the property, potential expenses involved in ownership, and the process of transitioning ownership of the property to your name. These situations become more complicated when you add…
Few people think about what will happen to their business after they die and therefore rarely put together a plan. Fewer may even think that a family or closely held business should be considered a part of their estate plan. However, for many small business owners, their financial interest in…
You have finally done it; you took the necessary and important step to sit down and put together an estate plan with a qualified New York estate planning attorney. You have all of the necessary documents you need to move forward confident into the future about how your assets will…
People are taught to hang onto important documents. Every person is instructed to hold onto deeds, mortgages, bank records and tax returns in a safe place where no one else can access them lest important information fall into the wrong hands. But wills, which might be the most important document…
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PERSON AND STEPS TO TAKE As noted in a previous blog, being an executor of an estate can be a thankless job. There are ways, however, that can allow you to make the job and life of an executor easier and less painful. It is a…
As was outlined in the most recent blog posting, if you compare the costs and benefits of creating a will now versus passing away intestate, there is no doubt that the benefit is huge and the cost is small. It is thus high time to explore New York’s intestacy laws…
On December 18, 2015 President Obama signed the Protecting Americans from Tax Hike (PATH) Act, which made permanent, among other things, three rather popular charitable tax incentives were set to expire January 1, 2016. The most important provision of the PATH Act for estate planning purposes is the continued allowance…