Staten Island Estate Planning and Administration Attorneys
When it comes to protecting the assets you have built up over a lifetime, many families on Staten Island turn to our family: the estate planning lawyers at The Law Offices of Polizzotto & Polizzotto, LLC.
Estate planning is more than planning for the final distribution of your property after death. Good estate planning can also help protect your property while you are alive. Our lawyers can also help you proactively minimize taxes and probate costs so that more of your property reaches the people you want to receive it.
No two families are exactly alike. For this reason, an estate planning consultation at our Staten Island office always begins with our lawyers gaining a clear understanding of your family, your assets, and your goals. Our attorneys then draft legal documents that help you accomplish your goals efficiently and effectively under the laws of New York. Those documents may include:
- A will or revocable trust
- A charitable trust, which is a tax efficient way to support a charity
- A special needs trust, to provide care for a disabled child or family member without jeopardizing governmental benefits such as SSDI or Medicaid
- A life insurance trust, which is one way to minimize or eliminate estate taxes
- A financial durable power of attorney, in which you name a trusted person to pay bills and make financial decisions for you if you are incapacitated
- A health care proxy, which names another person to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so
- A living will, which allows you to tell family members and medical providers whether you want artificial life support such as feeding tubes if you are in an end-of-life condition with no hope of recovery. By communicating your wishes in a living will, you can help your family avoid a Terri Schiavo situation if you are incapacitated.
Estate planning is best handled in consultation with an experienced attorney, so that the documents will accomplish your goals and hold up in New York courts. Estate planning attorney Alfred Polizzotto III is a certified financial planner, which makes him uniquely qualified to help you, your children, or other heirs make wise decisions regarding your estate.
Representing Beneficiaries, Estate Administrators, and Executors
If you have been named the administrator or executor of a loved one's estate, our lawyers can guide you through the probate process. This process includes:
- Taking an inventory of the assets of the estate
- Handling any creditor claims
- Paying applicable final income and estate taxes
- Distributing net assets to heirs and beneficiaries
- Defending the executor in any legal action resulting from the probate process.
Our lawyers also represent heirs to make sure their interests are protected in the probate process. If the will is questionable, our lawyers can also represent heirs in a will contest.
For an insightful free initial consultation on your estate planning and administration needs, contact the Staten Island attorneys at The Law Offices of Polizzotto & Polizzotto, LLC today. We are located in Southeast Annadale, near Richmond Avenue and Amboy Road, about two blocks from the Staten Island Railroad.
For help with Probate and Estate issues in Brooklyn please visit our Brooklyn Probate and Estate website
With offices in Brooklyn and Staten Island, the attorneys at Polizzotto & Polizzotto, LLC, represent clients throughout New York and New Jersey, including the Five Boroughs of New York City-NYC (Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx), and Garden City, Long Island. Our lawyers also represent residents of Nassau County as well as other counties throughout New York and New Jersey.
