WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | JUN 2022 ELDER LAW - REGINA KIPERMAN 28 Wills, Trusts and End-of-Life Planning in New York those children fight, you could appoint one person to spearhead the process. What are the key differences between a will and a trust? A will is a document that only takes effect after a death. A trust is a document that can take effect during a lifetime as well as after death. Some people find trusts very useful to avoid probate. There is only one type of will. Sometimes there are parallels between these and trusts; you can have trusts inside of a will. Similarly, a trust can act as a substitute for a will. But there are times where a trust may be better than a will. For example, if you are survived by cousins, you probably want to establish a trust rather than a will, because probating a will when your next of kin is a cousin is very onerous in New York and can be difficult and timeconsuming. Another reason why you might want a trust instead of a will is if you want to avoid probate. Some people are Why is estate planning so important, and what legal issues can arise from failing to have an estate plan in place? Estate planning is like an instruction manual for disposing of your assets. It is important to have a plan, just like you would have a plan in all other elements of your life. When you go to the grocery store, you make a list of what you are going to buy so that when you get there you do not buy everything in sight. In the same way, if you have an estate plan, you have an organised and mechanical process for deciding what will happen to your belongings in the event that something happens to you. In addition to being organised, if you conduct proper estate planning you can avoid payment of certain taxes. You can avoid capital gains, estate taxes, and also avoid family conflicts. Without estate planning, if you pass away and you are survived by three children who you know fight with each other, each of them will have the same rights to serve as an administrator – whereas if you have planning in place and you know Regina Kiperman Founder, RK Law, PC 40 Wall Street, Suite 2508, New York, NY 10005 Tel: +1 917-261-4514 Fax : +1 929-556-2089 E: Rkiperman@rklawny.com www.RKLawny.com As discussed elsewhere in this elder law spotlight, effective estate planning is a key concern for many later in life. NYC estate planning and probate lawyer Regina Kiperman shares a wealth of estate and wealth planning insights in this feature, along with her own predictions as to what developments we can expect to see in the wider elder law space in the coming years.
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