The firm maintains a reputation as a leader in the trusts and estates field, representing individuals and families in all aspects of estate, tax, business, and financial planning. As part of our firm's services, we endeavor to assist families in the orderly transfer of assets to succeeding generations with the least overall tax impact. Legal services include wills and trust agreements, probate, estate and trust administration and fiduciary accountings. For information about our services in contested estates and trusts, see our practice area for Surrogate's Court Litigation. For information about our services for not-for-profit organizations and charitable private foundations, see our practice area for Exempt Organizations. For information about our services for charitable tax planning for individual clients, see our practice area for Charitable Gift Planning.

A general description of some of our firm's work in Trusts and Estates includes the following:

Estate planning expertise for individual clients ranges from the preparation of simple wills and/or revocable trust agreements to sophisticated income, gift, estate and generation skipping transfer tax planning both for individuals and for family businesses. Usually, we begin the process with a prospective new client by distributing to them our firm's brief primer about Estate Planning. We also distribute to the prospective client a data sheet (Will/Trust Information Sheet for Married Clients; Will/Trust Information Sheet for Single Clients) to obtain information that is necessary for us to make estate planning recommendations.

An important component of the estate planning process requires a client to determine, at a time when he or she is physically and mentally strong, who that client would chose to be responsible for making both financial and health care decisions for him or her, when at a later time, the client may become mentally incapacitated. Indeed, under New York law, if a person has legally designated agents to make property and health care decisions, then the agents can usually make such decisions for the client, (even when the client has become mentally unable to make such decisions for himself or herself); making the likelihood of court intervention for the appointment of a guardian to make decisions on property or personal needs matters unnecessary. Thus, whenever a client retains our firm for any type of will or trust planning, we usually counsel them to consider making a Long Form or Statutory Short Form Durable Power of Attorney; and a combined Living Will and Health Care Proxy at that time. For further information about Health Care Proxies and the medical/ethical issues pertaining to such documents, see New York State's Task Force on Life and the Law. (http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/taskfce/index.htm).

For clients who are owners of family businesses, our Trusts and Estates attorneys provide, in coordination with the firm's Corporate, E-Business and General Business and Taxation Practice Areas, specialized estate and tax planning assistance in the creation, structure, capitalization, management, financing, and continuation or sale of their enterprises. Frequently, successful estate planning employs the use of Limited Liability Companies and/or Family Limited Partnerships as a component of an integrated gift planning recommendation.

A substantial portion of a client's wealth is often held in a client's qualified plan account (401K, pension and profit sharing) with an employer or in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Income and estate tax planning for clients with substantial qualified plan benefits is of growing significance to a successful estate planning strategy.

Under the Federal estate tax laws, there are substantial limitations on deductions for marital transfers and on credits against estate and gift tax that are dependant on the citizenship and residency status of a client, or a client's spouse. Thus, for clients who are aliens or who have assets in foreign jurisdictions (i.e., other countries and sometimes other states), we are often called upon to recommend appropriate strategies designed to minimize or defer overall taxes.

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are of increasing importance to clients and their families. Often, our Trusts and Estates attorneys work with the attorneys who practice in Matrimonial and Family Law in preparing and counseling clients as to such agreements.

Frequently, although not always in the context of estate planning, our attorneys offer elder law counseling for our senior clients who wish to protect their assets in the event that they become disabled, enter a nursing home or require community medical assistance. This type of planning is also available to disabled clients and to clients whose estate plans must provide for a disabled child. Such planning options, include, but are not limited, to the following:

Outright gifts of cash and securities to family members, for clients that are or may be entering a nursing home or who require home care services. The immediate, short-term or long-term goal is to obtain benefits under New York's Medicaid program (referred to as Medicaid Planning);

Transfers of a client's real estate or other assets, with the objective of both obtaining Medicaid assistance and/or preserving the client's assets from creditors while the client retains an interest in that property for a period potentially as long as the client's life,

The use of long-term care insurance, purchased through one of many of insurance carriers. We can assist our clients in analyzing the proposals in order to make the best economic and legal decision when the options for long-term care insurance are presented;

The use of more creative Medicaid Planning techniques, such as the purchase, through family members, of a private annuity by a client;

The proper use of lifetime (created through trust agreement) or testamentary (created through a client's Will) trusts to preserve and protect assets for disabled children or family members and prepare appropriate trust instruments that carry out the client's objectives;

Finally, and most importantly, while developing Medicaid Planning strategies, we are ever mindful that the client and his or her family are usually overwhelmed with many unpleasant options for dealing with long-term care. This is a vulnerable time for the entire family and we understand our role as counselors in developing options so that sound decisions can be made during a stressful time.

Our firm is staffed and equipped to handle all aspects of the administration of an estate or trust commencing with the initial probate proceedings or the funding of a trust through final distribution of estate and/or trust assets. Computerized records are maintained for executors, trustees, and guardians which enable clients to perform their roles as fiduciaries effectively and efficiently. Utilization of software for estate, gift, and income tax analysis assists our attorneys and paralegals in developing tax planning recommendations for our clients. Such software also insures accurate and cost-effective preparation of federal and state estate, gift and fiduciary income tax returns. Fill - in - the - blank Federal tax forms, are available at the IRS web site: http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/lists/0,,id=97401,00.html. New York State tax forms are also available: http://www.tax.state.ny.us/Forms/.

For further information on our Trusts and Estates practice area, please contact Frank W. Streng or Lisa Newfield.