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Trust Creation Steps for the Beginner

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A Last Will and Testament will likely serve as the foundation of your initial estate plan. As both your family and your estate grow, however, your estate plan should grow with them. Additional estate planning tools and strategies will be incorporated into your plan to ensure that all your estate planning goals are met. One of the most common tools is a trust. If you decide to include a trust in your estate plan, you should work with an experienced trust attorney during the creation of the trust. …

The Equal Gifting Dilemma

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The distribution of your estate assets after your death is undoubtedly an integral part of your estate plan. If you have adult children, you may be facing a common dilemma when it comes to dividing your estate. There is often pressure to split your estate evenly among your children; however, you may have valid reasons to resist that pressure. A Long Island estate planning attorney at Eghrari Law Firm discusses the equal gifting dilemma and offers some suggestions for how to resolve …

Can I Prevent a Challenge to My Will?

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You likely executed your Last Will and Testament, at least in part, to ensure that your estate assets are distributed according to your wishes after you are gone.  If that Will is invalidated because someone challenges the validity of your Will, however, the State of New York (or your state of residence at the time of your death) will ultimately decide what happens to your assets. Understandably, you want to prevent that from happening. The Long Island estate planning attorneys at Eghrari …

How to Protect Your Business with a Business Succession Attorney

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A business succession attorney is necessary so you can plan for any eventuality. Owning a small business is often part of living the American dream and comes with a sense of pride and accomplishment. As a business owner, however, the need for comprehensive and inclusive estate planning is amplified. Without a business succession planning component in your estate plan, all the hard work and sacrifice on your part to get your business off the ground may be at risk if something happens to you. The …

How Do I Pick the Right Trustee for My Trust?

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Although a Last Will and Testament remains the most common estate planning tool, trusts have steadily increased in popularity over the last several decades to the point where it is now very common to find one in the average estate plan. There are numerous different types of trusts that help achieve a wide variety of estate planning goals. One thing that all trusts have in common, however, is the need to appoint a Trustee to administer the trust. To help ensure that you make the best choice, the …

Formal Probate: Can It Be Avoided In New York?

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If you are responsible for administering the estate of a decedent, you have an important job ahead of you. One of decisions you need to make is to determine if the estate must go through formal probate or if an alternative for small estates is available. The Long Island probate attorneys at Eghrari Law Firm help you decide if an estate can avoid formal probate in New York. Formal Probate Basics The assets owned at the time of death comprise the estate of a decedent at the time of their …

Estate Planning Mistakes You Can Avoid Making

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Estate planning mistakes can often confuse people when they don't know which path should be taken. Your estate plan will likely be among the most important projects you undertake over the course of your lifetime. Ideally, your estate plan should protect and provide for you, your assets, and your loved ones, both while you are alive and after you are gone. Avoiding mistakes during the creation of your estate plan, therefore, is crucial. The best way to do that is to work closely with an …

An Overview of Estate Planning for Blended Families

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We always emphasize the fact that personalized legal attention is the key to a properly constructed estate plan. Every case is different, and there is no cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach that is right for everyone. This definitely enters the picture when it comes to estate planning for blended families, and we will provide six pieces of insight in this post. A simple will won’t cut it. On the day that you are getting married, you are naturally going to be optimistic about the …

This Veterans Pension Can Defray Long-Term Care Costs

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You have to try to accept some inconvenient truths when you are planning ahead for the future. After your active retirement years start to wane, it may become harder and harder for you to go about your activities of daily living. At some point, assistance may be needed, even if it is hard to envision it right now. Just over 50 percent of seniors need some type of paid care eventually, and many others get the help they need from unpaid family members and friends. When it comes to the …

Can You Modify a Living Trust?

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Before we drill down to the specific subject of this blog post, we should explain some of the benefits that living trusts provide. A lot of people think that a last will is the right transfer device for anyone that is not a multimillionaire, but in reality, this is a total misconception. The distribution process is not as simple and straightforward as it may appear to be on the surface when a last will is utilized. If you were to create a last will, you would name an executor in the document …

Do You Pay Capital Gains Taxes on Inheritances?

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The capital gains tax can be imposed when you sell assets that appreciated after you acquire them. This is called “realizing a gain,” and there are short-term gains that are realized less than a year after the acquisition, and long-term gains are realized more than a year after you obtain the assets. Long and short-term gains are taxed at different rates. A short-term gain is taxed at your regular income tax rate, and long-term gain rates are based on your income. People that claim $40,400 or …