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Wills & Trusts

Wills

The Last Will and Testament is the centerpiece of most estate plans. It is the document in which individuals declare how and to whom they want accumulated assets to be distributed. In New York State, the Will must be in writing, signed in the presence of at least two witnesses, and requires certain formalities to be observed at the time the Will is executed.

At LacherLaw, every Will is customized to the individual’s needs, depending upon family structure and relationships, level of assets, the specific plan for distribution, and tax and other considerations. We start with a basic premise of human nature – that is, if any person named in the estate plan should suffer an untimely death, whether it be a fiduciary or a beneficiary, the reality is that clients will not come home from the funeral and update their estate plan. So we make every document deep enough to withstand time and the occurrence of life-cycle events, including marriages, births, deaths, divorces, and other considerations.

Our Wills cover tangible personal property, the family home and other real estate, family businesses and financial assets. The Will must provide for fiduciaries including, at a minimum, an executor, and sometimes additional fiduciaries such as trustees and guardians of minor children, depending upon the family situation. Our Wills provide for other circumstances such as special or supplemental needs, common accidents or disasters, protecting assets passing to family members below a certain age even after they reach the legal age of majority, avoidance of bonds for probate proceedings, and extensive powers for executors and trustees. We always do a simultaneous Affidavit of Attesting Witnesses so that, in most cases, there should be no need to locate witnesses years after the Will was executed.

Trusts

Trusts are a form of Contract made between a Grantor (sometimes also referred to as a Settlor) and a Trustee. Trusts may be either revocable or irrevocable. In the case of revocable trusts, often the Grantor becomes the Trustee of her or his own Trust. Revocable trusts do not minimize estate tax, but they do avoid the need for probate of a Will. The Trust names ultimate beneficiaries as does a Will, and the Trust instrument provides for a Successor Trustee to step into the place of the initial Trustee in the event of disability and ultimately after the death of the initial Trustee. There is no probate requirement or other estate administration requirement for Trusts, but they do require that the individual’s assets be retitled (that is, legally transferred) into the Trust. One of the appeals of Trusts is that they are quite difficult to contest, and the Successor Trustee can distribute assets much sooner after death when no estate administration proceeding is required.

Irrevocable Trusts can be created for asset protection, Medicaid planning, and other considerations. In the case of the Irrevocable Trust, the Grantor names a third-party to serve as Trustee from the outset.