Estate Planning & Estate Litigation

You and a loved one have worked a lifetime to accumulate investments, money, assets, property and belongings. You may have children that need to be cared for. Your assets need to be protected and you not the government should decide how your assets are distributed and who should care for your children. At Tilem & Associates, PC, our White Plains based wills, estate and trusts attorneys are proud to help people throughout the New York metropolitan area, from Westchester County to Suffolk County and the lower Hudson Valley, protect the wealth and assets they have spent a lifetime earning and giving them the voice to control what happens next.

No one wants to think about the unthinkable. However, life can change in an instant and knowing that you and not the government controls what happens to your assets and loved ones should give you peace of mind.

We offer free initial consultations in which our attorneys sit down with potential clients, listen to them carefully, and then suggest an estate plan that best fits their needs. Our estate planning lawyers can help you understand the sometimes complex laws related to estates, gifts, trusts and wills, and counsel you on how to achieve your goals.

Serving residents of White Plains and beyond, our wills and trusts lawyers have handled a number of delicate probate, estate planning, and estate administration matters. Just a few estate planning elements that we can provide include:

• Wills
• Trusts
• Drafting Simple, Complex and Pour-over Wills
• Revocable, Irrevocable, Children’s and Charitable Trusts
• Limited Family Partnerships
• Living Wills
• Healthcare Proxies
• Durable Powers of Attorney
• Business Succession Planning
• Estate Tax Issues (see below)
• Formation of Limited Liability Companies and other corporate entities.

A comprehensive plan, involving a durable power of attorney, health care proxy, living will, will and trust can help you take control over the ultimate disposition of your belongings and care and guardianship of your minor children. We work to ensure that our clients control what happens to their estates. We can also assist people who are currently dealing with probate or estate administration.

At Tilem & Associates, PC, many of our estate planning clients are interested in avoiding estate taxes as much as possible. Our White Plains wills and trusts attorneys work closely with accountants and investment advisors who understand tax avoidance matters and can help our clients minimize estate taxes.

In 2020 the Federal Estate Tax Exemption is over 11 million dollars and the New York State Exemption is over 5 million dollars. However, Estate taxes can be very steep after the exemptions. In New York for example the law provides for a cliff that taxes your entire estate if you exceed the exemption by just a small amount. In addition, these number can constantly change so it is important to periodically review and update your Estate Plan on a fairly regular basis.

If you would like a free consultation with a wills and trusts attorney at the White Plains firm of Tilem & Associates, PC to discuss any estate planning issue, please call us at 877-377-8666.