Estate planning is one of the most important steps any person can take to make sure that their final property and health care wishes are honored, and that loved ones are provided for in their absence. Though often overlooked or put off in favor of more immediate concerns, a comprehensive estate plan can resolve a number of legal questions that arise whenever anyone dies: What is the state of their financial affairs? What real and personal property do they own? Who gets what? Does a personal guardian need to be appointed to care for minor children? How much tax will need to be paid in order to transfer property ownership? What funeral arrangements are appropriate?

What is an “Estate”?

Your “estate” consists of all property owned by you at the time of your death, including:

• Real Estate
• Bank Accounts
• Stocks and Other Securities
• Life Insurance Policies
• Personal Property (such as automobiles, jewelry, and artwork)

How Can an Estate Plan Help?

Regardless of your age, or the size and complexity of your estate, an estate plan can accomplish the following:

• Identify the family members and other loved ones that you wish to receive your property after your death.
• Ensure that your property will be transferred to those you have identified (as quickly and with as few legal hurdles as possible).
• Minimize the amount of taxes that will need to be paid in order for your property to pass to others after your death.
• Avoid the time and costs associated with the probate process by utilizing estate planning devices like living trusts and “payable on death” bank accounts.
• Dictate the kinds of life-prolonging medical care you wish to receive should you be unable to make your wishes known when the time comes.
• Set forth the kind of funeral arrangements you would like and how related expenses are to be paid.
• Allow you to prepare a halachically approved last will & testament so that the distributions of your assets at death will not violate the Torah laws of yerushsa (inheritance).

Understanding the estate plan options that are right for you can be a complex undertaking. A big problem exists when people have their regular attorney (that is not versed in Trusts & Estates matters) prepare their estate plan. If you have a headache, would you go to your urologist for a diagnosis? Trusts & Estates attorneys will never understand why people ask their divorce lawyers, the lawyer who did their real estate closing, their medical malpractice lawyer, or their commercial lawyer to “do their wills” for them. “Dabblers” have no business writing wills, trusts or preparing estate plans. While “dabblers” usually know enough to draft a will that can be admitted to probate at your death (and even that is not always the case), they often do not know enough about planning to minimize federal and state estate taxes, providing for necessary flexibility, providing appropriately for children or disabled persons, or minimizing taxation on retirement accounts, all of which are important to draft appropriate wills or trusts.

Poorly drafted wills and inadequately conceived estate plans cost families far more in the long run than the few extra dollars it takes to have a Trusts & Estates attorney work with you to devise and implement an appropriate estate plan.

Getting Legal Help With Your Estate Plan:

The attorneys in the Trust & Estates Practice Group at Yedid & Zeitoune have a combined 15 years of legal experience and are ready to assist you with all your estate planning needs.

Isaac Yedid, Esq. and Raymond Zeitoune, Esq.

Yedid & Zeitoune, PLLC 

1172 Coney Island Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11230

                                                                                                                                           Phone: (347) 461-9800    Fax: (718) 421-1695   Email: [email protected]

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