You work hard for your family, so knowing that you have planned for their long-term well-being and financial security can bring you comfort. When devising an estate plan, the lawyers of Kenyon & Kenyon in Canandaigua consider how best to protect your children, support your loved ones and contribute to the charitable causes that are special to you. We thoroughly analyze your estate and strategize to identify the best ways to transfer your assets, minimize taxes, establish guardianship for your children, care for your pets, support your personal philanthropic causes and protect the people closest to you.
Our trusts and estates attorneys have more than seven decades of combined experience providing knowledgeable assistance to Western New Yorkers by:
Each situation is unique, and we’ll work to find the combination of legal instruments that meet your estate planning needs in addition to other elder law concerns such as managing the costs of assisted living arrangements or nursing home care.
Serving as an executor of someone’s estate is a serious legal responsibility that comes at an already difficult time. Our lawyers take care of each aspect of the probate process, starting with the filing of the will and probate petition in the Surrogate’s Court in Ontario County or another county where the decedent resided. From there, we find the heirs named in the will or entitled to collect assets under New York’s intestacy law. After that, we transfer assets into the estate; see that debts, taxes and other expenses are paid; handle any communications with the court; and allocate the property among the beneficiaries. Should a dispute exist over the handling of probate duties or the validity of the will, our experienced advocates take decisive action in pursuit of a favorable result.
You deserve to control important decisions about your medical treatment even if your physical condition at the time prevents you from communicating your wishes. By completing an advance medical directive, such as a healthcare proxy or a living will, your directions will be clear and valid under New York law. Our firm advises clients who seek to appoint a trusted person as a proxy to make healthcare decisions should they lack the capacity to do so. In order to make your intentions clear regarding the end-of-life measures you want, and don’t want, we can also prepare an authoritative living will document.
During your lifetime, you can take active measures to reduce taxes linked to retirement accounts and other types of income. We can show you how trusts, well-planned gifts and other instruments might alleviate your tax burden. Under New York and federal law, no tax is assessed on estates where the value falls below a statutory threshold, which is now greater than $5 million for individuals. If you believe that your assets might approach that level, a detailed analysis is warranted because it’s easy to overlook or undervalue certain items.
Kenyon & Kenyon advises New York clients on a wide range of estate planning matters. To schedule a discussion, please call 585-577-7577 or contact us online. Our office is in Canandaigua.