Estate Planning Insights & Tips

New Yorkers are our own breed: Our pets are our 'fur babies'. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are, unequivocally, an integral part of the family. Perhaps a tough thought, but what happens to them should you pass away?

The right to independence is a core American value, something many have committed their lives to defending in service to the country. Living life independently on our own terms ranks equally high on that value scale. Sadly, aging has a way of slowly eroding our abilities to perform the basic activities of daily living.

Aware of that and the debt owed to those who braved conflicts serving in the military, Congress has created the Improved Pension Program. One specific benefit included in the IPP aims to defray the rising costs of Aid and Attendance (A&A) for many wartime veterans and/or their spouses. Many may be unaware of this benefit, however, a situation this post hopes to correct.

Leaving your lover is a big focus of pop music. Michael Bublé sings "It's a Beautiful Day" now that his lover is gone away. Paul Simon offers that there's no "need to be coy, Roy. Just get yourself free." But what if the loved thing is something only a parent could love?

Some New Yorkers find one place they know they want to return to for vacation every year and buy a timeshare. But one person's idea of heaven could be another's idea of the other place. So, how do you handle disposition of this kind of property in the context of a comprehensive estate plan? There may not be 50 ways, but there are a few you can explore with a skilled estate planning attorney.

Many of us are animal lovers and non-human companions come in a lot of shapes and sizes. As we have noted in another section of our site, millions of New Yorkers have pets they love as much as (or perhaps more than) family. Understandably, it's not unusual for pets to be named as beneficiaries of estate plans, but unless it's done correctly, legal issues can arise.

The key stumbling block to ensuring the proper care of pets after the testator's death often is that the testator thinks of them as family and the law considers them property. Because of that, simply naming them in a will isn't possible. However, you can create a trust for your pet that sets aside a specific amount of money for such things as grooming, sheltering, feeding, and who will serve as the trustee to oversee all of those things.