ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY IN ROCHESTER, NY

​What are the Core Components of an Estate Plan?​​

A comprehensive estate plan includes several key legal documents that ensure your assets are managed and distributed according to your wishes, both during your lifetime (in case of incapacitation) and after you pass. These documents work together to provide clarity, minimize family conflict, and ensure an orderly and efficient transfer of your assets and management of your care.

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• Last Will and Testament – A Last Will and Testament is a formal document that outlines an individual's wishes for how their property should be distributed when you pass, names an executor to manage and distribute your estate assets, and designate guardians for minor children or dependents after your passing. Its key purpose is to provide clear instructions and legal authority, helping ensure your estate is distributed according to your preferences, rather than the default state inheritance laws.

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• Healthcare Proxies – A healthcare proxy is a legal instrument authorizing a designated agent to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. The agent’s responsibilities include:

  • Consulting with family and medical professionals regarding your condition and treatment options.

  • Providing or withholding consent for medical procedures and treatments.

  • Ensuring your healthcare preferences and values are respected.

  • Making determinations about organ donation, life-sustaining interventions, and care settings, in accordance with your expressed wishes.​

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• Living Wills – A living will is a legally recognized document, also referred to as an advance health care directive, that specifies an individual's preferences regarding medical treatments and end-of-life care should they become incapacitated and unable to communicate their decisions. In contrast to a traditional will—which governs asset distribution after death—a living will provide guidance to medical professionals and family members during the individual's lifetime in circumstances such as terminal illness or irreversible loss of consciousness.

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• Powers of Attorney – Many people think that estate planning is mainly about deciding how your assets will be distributed after you pass away. However, it's even more crucial to prepare for who will handle vital medical, financial, and business matters if you become unable to make decisions yourself. A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that allows a person (the principal) to appoint another trusted individual (the agent or attorney-in-fact) to make decisions or take actions on their behalf. Unexpected accidents or illnesses can affect anyone, regardless of age or health. That's why adding a power of attorney to your estate plan is a wise decision.

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• Living Trusts – A trust is a legal structure where one person (the grantor) gives assets to another (the trustee) to manage for someone else's benefit (the beneficiary). The main purpose of a trust is to separate who legally owns the assets from who enjoys them, with clear instructions on how and when those assets should be distributed. Unlike a will, a fully funded trust can work while the grantor is alive, handle assets if they become incapacitated, remain private, and usually let assets pass to beneficiaries without going through public probate court. What differentiates our trusts is that we help clients fund their trusts. This means our trusts will work.

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• Probate and Estate Administration – Probate is the formal, court-supervised legal process to validate a will and officially appoints an Executor. An Administrator serves the same function as an administrator when someone dies without a will. Estate Administration refers to the overall process of settling a deceased person’s estate, which includes probate, but also extends to paying the deceased person’s debts, taxes, and handling non-probate assets (like those in a trust or in retirement assets like an IRA). Here’s how the process works:​​

  • Probate – If the deceased person left a will, the court authenticates it to ensure its validity. The court then appoints someone (called an executor) to administer the estate’s assets.​

  • Estate Administration – The Executor or Administrator takes an inventory of all the deceased person's assets and determines how much it’s worth, then uses the money from the estate to pay off any debts, taxes, and final expenses owed by the estate. The remaining assets are distributed to the estate’s rightful heirs. Any assets held in trust or those with beneficiary designations (like life insurance or retirement accounts) bypass the probate process and are distributed directly to the beneficiaries.

  • ​Beneficiary Designation – A beneficiary designation is a legal instruction provided to a financial institution or policy administrator that names the specific person or entity intended to receive the assets from an account, policy, or plan upon the owner's death. This designation is typically made for assets like life insurance policies, annuities, retirement accounts, bank accounts, and brokerage and investment accounts. Beneficiary designations generally override any instruction left in a will, as they are non-probate assets. Where they go is determined by the beneficiary designation. This is likely the singular decision that causes most estate plans to fail. Beneficiary designations are sometimes incorrect because as the deceased's life situations changed, these documents were not updated. This can occur when a spouse dies or a new IRA is created. 

  • Letter of Intent – A Letter of Intent (survivors’ instruction letter) is a non-legally binding document that can provide informal guidance, personal wishes for sentimental items, or funeral instructions to your loved ones and executor. These informal instructions do not replace a legal will, but complements your formal, legally binding estate planning documents. Your letter of intent provides personal guidance and detailed instructions to your executor or trustee and may include:

    • The location of legal estate planning documents such as Wills and Trusts, Health Care Proxies, and Powers of Attorney

    • The contact information for your attorney, accountant, financial advisor, and personal contacts who should be notified in the event of your death

    • Access to all digital information including usernames, passwords, and account numbers (social media accounts, bank accounts and financial records, credit card accounts, etc.).

    • A list of monthly payments that are being made and from which bank account these payments are coming from

    • Instructions as to who should get items that aren't necessarily valuable but might be sentimental

    • Any personal wishes or messages to your family

  • Advanced Healthcare Directive – An advanced healthcare directive is a legal document where you specify your wishes for medical treatment for end-of-life care. It also names a person to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated (a health care agent). It acts as your voice when you can’t speak and are on life support, or artificial nutrition.