Owning property or dividing your time between New York and Florida can affect how your estate plan works when it is needed. Each state has its own rules for wills, trusts, probate, and incapacity planning, and those differences can create delays or complications if your documents are not aligned.
Understanding Estate and Gift Taxes
Under federal law, each person can make tax-free gifts of up to $19,000 per person, per year. So as a married couple, you can give $ 38,000 per year to as many people as you want, usually without the necessity of filing a gift tax return. More importantly, these gifts...
3 Snowbird Must-Have Estate Planning Documents
If you split your time between Florida and New York, your estate plan needs to work across state lines. Snowbirds often run into trouble when documents are outdated, inconsistent, or not recognized during a medical or financial emergency in a different state.
Most snowbirds do not need complicated planning....
Estate Planning When You Have a Second Home
It is fairly common for New Yorkers to spend a few months in Florida or some other state. Whether you are heading to the Berskshires for the summer, or a warm destination in the winter, there are some relatively easy steps you should take in order to ensure that your...
Continue reading…
Understanding the Pros & Cons of IRA Accounts
IRA and other retirement accounts offer some very valuable tax advantages. While they are beneficial, in terms of providing a vehicle for saving for your later years, they also lower your income taxes and they grow tax-free. There are some disadvantages, which should be considered.
One problem...
How To Best Provide For Minor Children And Grandchildren
It is quite common for parents and grandparents to want to leave money to a person under the age of eighteen (18) years old (a “minor”). Since a person younger than 18 can not legally inherit money, having a minor as a beneficiary on one’s accounts, regardless of how small in value...
Understanding Transfer on Death Accounts
It has become quite common for clients to list beneficiaries on their brokerage and investments accounts, regardless of whether or not they are retirement accounts. The designation is commonly referred to as a TOD, or transfer on death. With savings,checking and money market accounts held with banks and credit unions, one is...
Moving to Florida? How It Affects Your New York Estate Plan
Relocating from New York to Florida is an exciting step for many individuals and families—whether for retirement, lifestyle, or financial reasons. But when you change your primary residence, your estate plan does not automatically adjust with you. At the Law Office of Angela Siegel, we regularly advise clients who divide their...
Family Issues in Estate Planning
Whether a client is preparing a will or a trust, or simply naming beneficiaries on investment and savings accounts, it is important to take into account family dynamics. While there is nothing in the law which requires this, it is certainly a consideration, in order to avoid family feuds.
5 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Estate planning is essential for anyone who wants to control how their assets will be distributed after they pass away. Estate planning mistakes can be costly. They can result in delays or even prevent your assets from being distributed as you would prefer. Common estate planning mistakes in Florida and New York...