Helping You Protect Your Legacy

When estate planning isn’t crafted by design, it will be handled by default. If a New York resident dies without a will, trust or other estate planning instruments, asset transfers will be made according to the state intestate statute. The distribution under this statute may or may not bear any relation to the wishes of the decedent.

At the Law Office Raymond R. Geluz, we provide knowledgeable legal advice for individuals and families creating estate plans. We take a pragmatic, results-oriented approach to the practice of law. We begin with your ultimate goals and then craft legal strategies tailored to your situation to reach those goals.

We invite you to give us a call today to set up a consultation to discuss your specific concerns. From offices in New York, we serve clients throughout New York City.

Establishing A Will, Trust Or Durable Power of Attorney

A comprehensive estate plan allows you to prepare for surprises and plan for the inevitable. By developing an estate plan, you can express your wishes clearly, avoid probate, minimize estate taxes and ensure that your family is protected regardless of what else may happen.

We routinely create a wide range of estate planning instruments, from wills and trusts to powers of attorney. Our estate planning services include:

Drafting, reviewing and updating your last will and testament.
Establishing and administrating trusts and resolving complex trust litigation.
Advising trustees and beneficiaries regarding trustee fiduciary duties and handling related trust disputes.
Crafting health care directives and durable power of attorney designations tailored to your wishes.
Creating estate plans that address asset needs.
Addressing other estate planning needs.
We frequently create estate plans for families with young children. By establishing a living trust, parents can ensure that children are financially secure in the event of unexpected parental death, and that minimal assets are lost to administrative expenses. By designating a guardian, parents can make their wishes for future care clear and legally enforceable, and avoid difficult disputes during an emotionally unstable period for the children.

Planning Effectively to Avoid Hassles

A properly constructed estate plan can help avoid probate. Probate can be a time-consuming process — property transfer through probate can often take up to a year. Probate is a public process, with court documents becoming part of the public record. Probate can also be an expensive process, with substantial fees going to the executor and the probate administration services attorney. Transfers outside of probate are generally less expensive and faster but must be planned in advance and in accordance with state and federal rules. Otherwise, your family could still be subjected to taxes, expenses and delays that you were intending to avoid.

But negotiation is not effective in every situation. That is why our commercial litigation attorneys are prepared to represent client interests at trial when necessary. Our business litigation cases include breach of contract disputes and issues involving business breakups or closings.

Lawyers Protecting Your Family’s Financial Security — When Litigation Is Necessary

In addition to preparing wills, trusts and other estate planning documents, our New York attorneys have extensive experience handling probate and trust litigation matters. As a result of these experiences, we are very familiar with the problems that can develop with estate planning instruments. Accordingly, we know how to draft estate planning documents carefully to avoid many of these problems.

To schedule a confidential consultation with an estate planning attorney at our firm, call (713) 731 5132. Or, if you prefer, simply fill out our online form.