The Average Cost of a Will and Trust in New York City

The average cost of a will or trust in New York depends on the location. For example, in the New York metro area, the average cost of a will is $1,500. The average cost of a trust is $6,000 in New York City. The price will be different depending on where you live. The average fee for a will or trust typically includes a consultation with an attorney, estate planning, a healthcare proxy and a springing power of attorney.

If you would like a quote for your estate plan, you can call us at 212-233-1233 or send us an email at [email protected].

Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning

A will is a legal document, directing the disposition of a person’s (testator’s) assets upon his death. The will must comply with the formalities mandated by the state. Otherwise, the will will not be admitted to probate, and the testator will be considered to have died intestate. When a person dies intestate, state laws direct who will receive the assets of the deceased. For this reason, a will is necessary to enable someone to order who receives his assets upon his death. Because a will requires compliance with strict formalities, drafting and executing a will under the supervision of a lawyer is always recommended.

A trust is a legal arrangement where a grantor transfers property to a trustee to be managed and held in favor of a beneficiary. Trusts are generally resorted to when one seeks to avoid probate of assets. Some people also execute trusts to protect their assets from creditors or minimize the payment of estate, gift, or income taxes. Depending on one’s reason, there’s always a type of trust that can assist in achieving your financial and other goals, whether it is to lessen capital gains or income tax, avoid probate, or take care of a disabled relative.

Estate planning can help one manage and dispose of assets in the most cost-efficient way with the least amount of costs and taxes. A good estate planning lawyer will review one’s assets and recommend whether these assets are best placed in a trust or disposed of via a will.

Healthcare Proxy and Springing Power of Attorney

A healthcare proxy is a document previously executed by a patient, appointing an agent to legally make healthcare decisions for the patient in case of the patient’s incapacity. A springing power of attorney is a power of attorney designed to take effect at a future time when the principal becomes incapacitated. These documents are similar in purpose and can grant an agent a lot of power especially when the principal becomes temporarily or permanently incapacitated. For this reason, these documents have to be specific in purpose and timing and should always provide safeguards to prevent abuse. A good lawyer can draft these legal documents to minimize the possibilities of abuse by using appropriate safeguard mechanisms. Those documents are typically included in the average cost of a will and trust in New York.

If you are in need of a will or trust, or you would like to plan your estate to ensure proper disposition upon death at the least possible cost, we, at the law offices of Albert Goodwin, are here for you. We can review and evaluate your assets and recommend an estate plan that includes a mix of trusts and a will for just $1200. This includes an estate plan evaluation, drafting and execution of the will in accordance with state formalities, the preparation of other relevant documents to make a self-proving will, the drafting of a healthcare proxy and springing power of attorney, the preparation of the trust instrument, and transfer of initial properties to the trust.

If you would like to know more about the average cost of a will and trust in New York, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. You can call us at at 1-800-600-8267 or email at [email protected]