Practice area
Wills, trusts and estate planning
An estate plan is a set of instructions for people who will have to act at the worst possible moment. Its job is to be clear, current, and to leave as little as possible open to interpretation.
Levy Law & Mediation Firm, P.C. is a concierge trusts and estates practice established in 1993. The firm identifies each client's needs and objectives and then memorialises them in planning documents, including wills, trusts, and the authority documents that sit alongside them. For clients with substantial assets, planning also addresses estate and gift tax exposure while accounting for personal wishes, family needs, business succession and philanthropic goals.
When families come to us about this
You have never signed anything
If you die without a will in New York, the state's intestacy rules decide who receives your property, and they may not match what you would have chosen. A will replaces that default with your own instructions.
Your documents are years out of date
Marriages, divorces, births, deaths, business changes and moves between states all affect whether a plan still works. A plan drafted for a life you no longer lead can cause more difficulty than no plan at all.
You have a family member with disabilities
Leaving assets directly to someone who receives needs-based benefits can jeopardise those benefits. Supplemental and special needs trusts exist to prevent that outcome.
There is significant wealth or a business involved
Estate and gift tax exposure, business succession and philanthropic intentions all need to be planned together rather than separately.
How the process works
Documents come last. What comes first is establishing what you are actually trying to achieve.
- The objectives conversationWhat you own, who depends on you, what you want to happen, and what you are worried about. Most of the value in an estate plan is created in this conversation rather than in the drafting.
- Identifying the risksLong-term care costs, a beneficiary's potential divorce, a child who cannot manage a lump sum, tax exposure, or a business that needs a succession plan. Each of these changes the recommended structure.
- Choosing the instrumentsWhether a will alone is sufficient, or whether a revocable or irrevocable trust should carry part of the plan, and which asset protection structures are appropriate.
- Selecting the peopleExecutor, trustee, agent under a power of attorney, health care agent, and guardian for any minor children. Naming the wrong person is one of the most common and most damaging planning mistakes.
- Drafting and signingThe documents are drafted, reviewed with you, and executed with the formalities New York requires. Execution formalities matter: they are a frequent basis on which documents are later challenged.
- Funding and reviewA trust that is never funded does very little. Assets are retitled where the plan requires it, and the plan is revisited as circumstances change.
The core document set
Most plans are built from the same components. Which of them you need, and how they are drafted, is what differs.
- A will directs who receives your property and names the executor who will carry that out.
- A revocable or lifetime trust can hold assets during life and pass them on without probate.
- An irrevocable trust gives up a measure of control in exchange for protection that a revocable trust cannot provide.
- A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is designed with long-term care eligibility in mind, and its timing matters.
- Supplemental and special needs trusts provide for a beneficiary without disturbing needs-based benefits.
- An irrevocable life insurance trust can keep policy proceeds outside the taxable estate.
- A power of attorney authorises someone to handle financial matters if you cannot.
- A health care proxy and living will cover medical decisions and treatment preferences.
- A HIPAA release allows the people you have chosen to actually obtain your medical information.
- Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements interact directly with an estate plan and should be drafted with it in view.
Where we handle these matters
Estate planning clients are seen at the Great Neck office and at 233 Broadway in Manhattan, and the firm works with families throughout Nassau, New York, Queens, Kings, Westchester and Suffolk Counties. Documents are prepared under New York law.
Wills, Trusts & Estates: common questions
More questions are answered on the firm's FAQ page.
Do I need a trust, or is a will enough?
It depends on what you are trying to achieve. A will alone is sufficient for many people. A trust becomes worth considering where you want to avoid probate, protect assets from long-term care costs, provide for a beneficiary who should not receive assets outright, or manage tax exposure. The answer follows from your objectives rather than from a rule of thumb.
What happens if I die without a will in New York?
Your estate is distributed under New York's intestacy rules, which set a fixed order of who inherits. That order may bear little resemblance to what you would have wanted, and it applies regardless of your intentions. A will is what replaces that default with your own decisions.
How often should an estate plan be reviewed?
Whenever something significant changes: a marriage, a divorce, a birth, a death, a move to another state, a substantial change in assets, or a change in the health of someone in the plan. Absent any of those, a periodic review is still sensible, because the law itself changes.
Can I leave money to a child who receives disability benefits?
Yes, but not directly. An outright gift can disqualify someone from needs-based benefits. A supplemental or special needs trust is specifically designed to provide for that beneficiary while preserving their eligibility, and it should be drafted with care.
I already have a will from another state. Is it still valid?
It may be, but it should be reviewed. Requirements and default rules differ between states, and a will drafted elsewhere can produce results in New York that you did not intend. A review is considerably cheaper than a contested estate.
Want your documents reviewed, or a plan put in place for the first time?
Most families come to us with a decision that already feels overdue. A first conversation is about understanding where you actually stand and what your options are.