Estate Planning Attorney in Westchester County
Look Out for Your Family's Future in Mt. Vernon and the surrounding areas
Estate planning can be an uncomfortable matter to consider. Even so, choosing to plan for your family's future could be one of the best decisions you make in life. When people pass on without any plans for their assets and property, it can mean hardship and heartache for their surviving family members.
If you don't already have your affairs in order, working with an estate planner from The Browne Firm can help you establish plans for what will happen to your estate when you die. However, other important questions related to medical care during incapacitation and end-of-life treatment can be answered with advanced healthcare directives. At our law office in Westchester County, NY, we offer our experienced legal services for drafting wills and trusts as well as advanced healthcare directives.
Contact The Browne Firm online today or call (914) 530-3070 to speak about planning your estate. Our estate planning lawyer in Westchester County is happy to help guide you through this complicated process.
Drafting Wills & Trusts
Establishing a will or trust can help you rest assured that your assets and property will be properly divided among your beneficiaries. How these estate planning documents protect your property, however, is very different. An estate planning attorney in Westchester County can help you understand the options available to you so that you can make decisions you're comfortable with.
The defining difference between these two is that a living trust goes into effect while you're still alive, while a will becomes relevant upon your death. People often choose trusts because they allow someone's assets and property to transfer into the care of a trustee during life so that the estate won't have to go through probate court.
Your trust, however, may not be as thoroughly defined as you believed it to be in life. Certain assets or property not outlined in a trust can still go through probate. Without a will backing up your trust, any of these items will not be divided according to your wishes but rather state law.
Consulting with an estate planning attorney in Mt. Vernon to establish a will or trust can help you rest assured that your whole estate is covered. We can help you develop a plan to minimize the effect of the probate process on your estate.
Creating an Advanced Healthcare Directive
Proper estate planning is not just important for distributing the assets of a deceased person. Your estate plan should include items likes a living will, medical privacy forms, power of attorney, advance healthcare directives, and other documents that help your family and doctors know how to treat you. These documents are important not just because they outline your wishes for your healthcare, but because they become your voice when you're incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself.
If you're affected by a coma, mental illness, diseases such as Alzheimer's or dementia, or are suffering from a traumatic brain injury, it's possible that you won't be able to communicate your wishes. The Browne Firm can help you compile your wishes for your medical treatment in the event of your incapacitation so your family won't have to guess when making difficult decisions.
Need help with estate planning in Westchester County? Call our estate law firm at (914) 530-3070 to learn more about how we can help.