The short answer
Estate planning is deciding, in writing, who will manage your finances and health decisions if you cannot, and who receives what when you die. It usually involves an attorney for the legal documents and a financial planner for how your accounts and assets line up with them.
The core documents
An estate attorney prepares these. The exact set depends on your family, your assets, and New York law.
- Will. Names who receives your property and, if you have minor children, who you would like to serve as guardian.
- Trusts. Some households use one or more trusts to manage how and when assets pass to others. Whether a trust makes sense depends on your situation.
- Durable power of attorney. Names someone to handle financial matters if you cannot.
- Health care proxy and living will. Name who decides about medical care if you cannot, and record your wishes.
The paperwork people often miss
Several things pass outside your will, which makes it easy for them to drift out of date:
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance
- How accounts and property are titled, such as joint ownership
- Transfer-on-death or payable-on-death instructions
- Access to digital accounts and a list of where everything is
A mismatch between these and your will can lead to results you did not intend. Reviewing them together is a common starting point for a planning conversation.
Taxes to keep on your radar
Federal and New York State each have their own estate tax rules, and the thresholds differ and are adjusted over time. For Long Island households, a home and other real estate may make up a large share of net worth, which can matter for both tax thresholds and for having enough cash available to settle an estate.
Confirm current thresholds and strategies with a qualified estate attorney or tax professional. Our tax planning team can help you understand how these questions fit with your wider plan.
How a financial planner and an attorney work together
N Financial Plans is not a law firm, and we do not draft legal documents or give legal advice. What a planner can do is take inventory of your assets, check that beneficiary designations and account titling match your intentions, estimate cash needs, and coordinate with your attorney so the documents and the finances point in the same direction.
For larger or more complex households, see our high net worth planning service.
A simple checklist to start
- List your accounts, property, insurance policies, and debts.
- Note who is named as beneficiary on each account.
- Decide who you would trust as executor, agent, and health care proxy, and as guardian if you have minor children.
- Find out when your documents were last reviewed.
- Schedule time with an estate attorney and share your inventory.
