At Polizzotto & Polizzotto, we help you make deliberate choices about your property, family, business interests, and future decision-making. Our family-owned firm was founded in 1962 and has served New York clients for more than 60 years across three generations.
We combine personal attention with practical legal guidance shaped by decades of direct involvement in estate planning and administration. Our Manhasset estate planning lawyers can translate your wishes into documents that comply with New York law and work together as one plan.
Contact us to schedule a consultation to discuss your estate planning needs with one of our Manhasset elder law lawyers.
What Should Your Estate Plan Accomplish?
An estate plan should give clear answers to questions that may arise during your lifetime and after your death. It should also account for how your assets are owned and whether beneficiary designations already control their transfer.
Your plan may state:
- Who will receive property controlled by your will.
- Who will serve as executor and administer your estate.
- Whether certain assets should be placed in a trust.
- Who may complete financial transactions for you during your lifetime.
- Who may make health care decisions if you lose capacity.
- How inherited property should be managed for children or other beneficiaries.
- Who you wish to nominate as guardian for a minor child, subject to court approval.
Our Manhasset estate planning attorneys review these decisions with you and explain how each one affects the larger plan.
Don't wait to protect your future, schedule a consultation today and get the experienced legal guidance you need to move forward with confidence.
CALL NOW TO SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION 718-232-1250How Do Wills, Trusts, and Beneficiary Designations Work Together?
Estate planning documents do not operate independently of the way you own property. We look at the full transfer plan, including your will, trusts, deeds, accounts, and beneficiary forms.
Last Will and Testament
A will directs the transfer of assets included in your probate estate. It can nominate an executor, identify beneficiaries, create testamentary trusts, and nominate guardians for minor children.
New York requires wills to be executed in accordance with specific signing and witnessing rules. A document that does not satisfy those requirements may be denied probate or become the subject of a dispute.
Trust Planning
A trust can establish how property will be held, managed, and distributed. Trusts may be used to provide continued financial oversight, plan for young beneficiaries, address privacy concerns, or manage property across generations.
A revocable trust does not keep an asset out of probate merely because the trust document exists. The asset generally must be transferred to the trust during the person’s lifetime. Irrevocable trusts involve different restrictions and should be considered only after you understand the rights you will retain or give up.
Assets That May Pass Outside a Will
Certain property may transfer by title or contract rather than by will. Examples may include:
- Jointly owned real estate or financial accounts.
- Retirement accounts with valid beneficiary designations.
- Life insurance policies with named beneficiaries.
- Payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts.
- Property transferred to a trust.
An estate planning attorney serving Manhasset can review whether these arrangements support your written instructions or create an unintended result.
Who Can Manage Your Affairs If You Lose Capacity?
A complete estate plan should address decision-making during your lifetime. A will has no legal effect while you are alive, so separate documents are needed for financial and medical authority.
- A New York power of attorney can authorize an agent to handle the transactions listed in the document. Depending on the authority granted, this may include banking, taxes, insurance, real estate, business interests, and bill payment.
- A health care proxy appoints an agent to make medical decisions after you are found unable to make those decisions yourself.
- A living will can record your treatment preferences and give additional guidance to your family and medical providers.
Without effective incapacity documents, relatives may need to seek authority through a court proceeding. Preparing these documents in advance allows you to select your representatives and define their authority yourself.
Your case deserves a law firm that puts your needs first, not its bottom line. Schedule a consultation and let us provide the results you need.
CALL NOW TO SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION 718-232-1250What Happens If You Die Without a Will in New York?
When a New York resident dies without a valid will, intestacy law determines who inherits assets in the probate estate. Distribution depends on the person’s surviving relatives. The result does not account for personal closeness or verbal promises.
An unmarried partner, stepchild, friend, or charitable organization generally does not inherit under New York intestacy law solely because of the relationship. If you want to provide for someone who would not otherwise inherit, that direction should be stated in a valid estate plan.
The Surrogate’s Court may appoint an administrator to collect estate property, pay enforceable debts and expenses from estate funds, and distribute the balance according to law. Preparing a will allows you to choose beneficiaries and nominate an executor to carry out your instructions.
Estate Planning Attorney for Manhasset Families and Property Owners
Your family structure and property interests should shape the plan. The right documents for a parent with young children may differ from those prepared for a retiree, business owner, or couple in a second marriage.
Planning for Children and Grandchildren
Parents may use a will to nominate guardians and a trust to manage inherited property for a child. The trust can establish distribution ages and authorize payments for education, health, housing, and support.
Grandparents may also wish to provide for younger family members without transferring a substantial inheritance all at once. Clear trust terms can give a trustee direction while preserving flexibility for changing needs.
Planning for a Spouse or Blended Family
A plan can provide for a surviving spouse while also preserving assets for children from an earlier relationship. This may require coordination among wills, trusts, deeds, retirement accounts, and life insurance beneficiary forms.
Without that coordination, an asset may pass differently from what the will appears to direct.
Planning for Real Estate and Business Interests
Your home, investment property, or closely held business may require separate transfer planning. We review ownership records and business agreements to determine how those assets may pass and who will have authority to manage them.
Business succession planning may address ownership transfers, management responsibility, buyout provisions, and coordination with partners or family members. These decisions should be documented before a death or incapacity disrupts operations.
We are committed to investing our energy in long-lasting, fruitful relationships. Contact us today to schedule your consultation.
CALL NOW TO SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION 718-232-1250
Our Long-Term Approach to Estate Planning
Polizzotto & Polizzotto was built from the ground up, beginning with work in the family office at age 15 and continuing through decades of legal practice. That background gives us insight into both the legal requirements and the day-to-day concerns families and business owners bring to the planning process.
We view our clients as long-term relationships rather than one-time transactions. Our recommendations reflect the founder’s guiding philosophy to always do right by our clients, even when that means advising you against an unnecessary service.
Consult an Estate Planning Attorney Serving Manhasset
Your estate plan should provide clear instructions, appoint people you trust, and reflect how your property is actually owned. Our estate planning lawyers serving Manhasset can help you create a new plan or determine whether your existing documents still serve your goals.
Contact Polizzotto & Polizzotto to schedule a consultation. Zoom consultations are available.
