Estate Planning Attorneys Serving Lake Success

Since its incorporation in 1927, Lake Success has had an impact not only in its home state of New York, but to the United States and abroad. Having been home to the United Nations from 1947 to 1952, Lake Success has a rich history that is deeply embedded in American history. Nestled right alongside Little Neck, Lake Success is a 1.9 square mile area located in Nassau County and is home to a little over 3,000 people. The Village’s convenient location finds itself only 16 miles from the heart of Manhattan, with residents finding enjoyment in the close proximity while still living in a largely residential community.

Lake Success offers a rural feel, with lower population density and higher income per household, with an average median income of $181,097 in 2019. Currently, 45 percent of the Village’s land is dedicated to residential homes, in addition to two large golf courses and the Great Neck Public School Complex. The remaining space is allocated to commercial or industrial properties to provide for the community of Lake Success. This Village values its community and rural feel so much so that in 1957 the Village residents voted to pay one million dollars to preserve the golf course and avoid its sale to private development. The residents of Lake Success strive to create and maintain a Village with a community mindset where families can grow and retire.

What is Estate Planning?

Estate Planning is an important step for all individuals and families to take, no matter how big or small the estate may be. First, what even makes up an estate? An estate is made up of everything you own, including your home, your car, financial accounts, investments, insurance, and personal possessions. Planning for how these possessions are dealt with after your passing is important to avoid your home state from deciding without you.

An effective estate plan addresses all of your assets and liabilities, both in the event of incapacitation or death. In the event of incapacitation, the estate plan will allow you to have designated in advance people that you trust to handle your legal, financial, and health care matters. It will also allow you to provide instructions specific instructions for your care, and if done correctly, give your trusted person or people the ability to plan to protect your assets and obtain the care you need without exhausting your own funds. In the event of death, the estate plan will provide for a designation for transfer of your assets, name guardians for minor children, and designate a person that you choose to manage the process on behalf of your estate. Additionally, with advance planning, an estate plan can address minimizing taxes, costs, and legal fees for the probate and estate administration process.

Lake Success residents often ask:

What happens if I die without a will?

In the event that you happen to die without a will, then under New York law you are considered to have died intestate. When this happens, your estate will be distributed according to state intestacy laws. These laws vary depending on your marital status and familial status. If you were married at the time of your passing and without a will, then under New York state law, your spouse will inherit the entire estate. If you were married and had children, then your spouse is entitled the first $50,000 of your estate. The remaining balance is then divided in half, half to your spouse and the remaining half will be divided among your descendants. If your spouse passed prior to you or if you were unmarried at the time of passing, the descendants will inherit the entire probate estate.

But what happens if you have no spouse nor any descendants? New York law will then distribute the estate to your parents equally. If your parents have passed prior to you, then your siblings, half and whole, will inherit your estate. If there are no parents or siblings, then your estate will be distributed equally between half of your mother’s family and half of your father’s family. Finally, if there are no family members the estate will pass to the state of New York.

The law will not factor in the degree of your emotional relationship with your family but distributions will be made according to blood relation. Therefore, it is extremely important to have an estate plan in place to avoid any unintended distributions of your assets and to ensure that those that you love will be the ones inheriting your estate.

What is the difference between a will and a trust?

In estate planning you will often hear the terms “will” and “trust”, but what exactly is a will or trust? Both are important to your estate plan, but which is right for you? This is where your Estate Planning Attorney comes in, to find the estate plan that is most suitable for you and your particular needs.

A will is a testamentary document, which means it only goes into effect after your lifetime. It is a legally enforceable document that states how you would like your estate to be handled and distributed after you pass away. A will designates an executor, the person you choose to manage your estate and further designates who your beneficiaries are, including how much and exactly what you would like each beneficiary to inherit from your estate. A will can also provide for guardianship of minor children should both parents pass while a child is a minor. One important item to note with wills is that the will becomes part of the public record and only becomes effective once admitted to probate through a court proceeding after your death.

A trust on the other hand, holds assets that are funded into it which can be during your lifetime. There are many kinds of trusts depending on your particular needs. Trusts can be either living trusts which are created during your lifetime, and testamentary trusts, which are established only through your will and during the probate process . A living trust is created while the trustor is alive, it can be revocable or irrevocable depending on your objectives, and can accomplish many goals from simply avoiding probate from property funded into the trust, to preserving assets from the high cost of long term care, to minimizing taxes. The trust is effective as soon as it is established and can be drafted to avoid the court system completely. It can remain a completely private document, not subject to a court process. A testamentary trust is a trust that is created under your will and is only established after your lifetime when your will is probated. Generally, a living trust is preferable to a testamentary trust, but a testamentary trust may be more appropriate in some instances to avoid the higher upfront costs associated with establishing a living trust separate from a will.

Contact our Estate Planning Attorneys to schedule a free consultation today.

Creating an estate plan that complies with your specific state’s laws and achieves your individual goals is crucial to ensuring that your loved ones can carry out your wishes for you both in the event of incapacity and after your lifetime. Having an experienced estate planning attorney assisting you in creating your plan will ensure that you are properly protected. Contact our attorneys at Esther Schwartz Zelmanovitz, PLLC to schedule your free consultation today.