After finishing your divorce mediation sessions, both you and your spouse have a right to seek an independent review attorney before signing your New York stipulation of settlement to make sure your rights will be protected in the future after you are divorced. An experienced estate planning attorney will make sure your stipulation goes beyond the dissolution of your marriage.
Child Support
Spousal or child support obligations may necessitate purchasing life insurance should you pass away before fulfilling the entire obligation. If there is a child support obligation, it may be wise to have the life insurance policy owned by a trust allowing distributions to the minor children by a trustee instead of a lump sum payout to your former spouse, who may or may not use the funds as intended. (If this is not incorporated into your decree, make sure your former spouse agrees to this strategy!)
Child Custody and Visitation
Divorce mediation is an effective form of alternative dispute resolution designed to help separating spouses reach middle ground with less of the pain common to the traditional divorce process. It is private- you will never have to enter a courthouse. The goal is to achieve a fair result with a trained, neutral mediator who will resolve all of the issues that are necessary to be resolved in a divorce (child custody, spousal support, division of assets, etc.). Since the process is aimed at being non-adversarial and in a private setting, you and your soon to be ex-spouse can speak candidly about issues and resolve them yourselves without a judge intervening and deciding your future and the future of your children.
Premarital Agreement
A prenuptial agreement is a contract between two people who intend to get married to one another. It explains what the future spouses have decided the "rules" should be about their property and what obligations they have to one another at the time when the marriage ends, either by divorce or upon the death of one of the parties. In simple terms, you get to write your own rules.
Guardianship
Knowing that you have planned for the long-term well-being and financial security of your loved ones can be comforting. The Law Office of Melissa L. Carvajal, P.C. thoroughly analyzes your estate and strategizes the best means of transferring your assets, minimizing taxes, establishing guardianship and supporting charitable causes.
On March 1, 2004, Melissa was admitted to the New York State Bar. On the same day she started her career at the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office where she quickly rose to become a Homicide Prosecutor in the Office's prestigious Homicide Bureau. In her over 17 years as a Prosecutor, Melissa investigated and tried some of the most high-profile cases in the Office. Most notably, Melissa was the sole prosecutor on the "Son of Sal" serial killer case, where Salvatore Perrone murdered three innocent Brooklyn shopkeepers during a five-month killing spree in 2017. Melissa also tried and convicted Luis Perez, making her the only Prosecutor in the Office to ever secure a murder conviction where the victim's body was never found (notably a "no-body" case). Melissa also tried and convicted the "Brooklyn Butcher" Sergey Mamanaov for killing, dismembering, and mutilating his roommate in one of the most gruesome murders ever investigated.
No. Anyone who has survived to age eighteen and beyond has likely accumulated a few possessions that are of some monetary or sentimental value. If you have a home, car, and financial accounts you need to plan. If you have children, then you need to plan. It does not matter if you $100 or $1 million. There is no minimum asset value required to justify having a Will. Being a parent or owning anything requires planning. More importantly, estate planning isn’t just about where your “stuff” goes when you die. It is vital that you work with an actual estate planning attorney and not an attorney who one day writes a will and the next day does a personal injury claim. Your estate plan has to include incapacity planning- what will happen to you when you are in an accident or have a medical emergency where you are temporarily incapacitated?
Auto Accidents
Medicaid Planning
In Long Island, Medicaid Planning is an important service to provide for seniors. Medicaid is the only New York State government program that will pay for nursing home care on a long-term basis. With the rising cost of long-term care, many seniors may not be able to afford to pay privately. As a result, Medicaid planning is necessary for most seniors in Long Island.
Many estate planning attorneys take a "one-size-fits-all" approach with their clients. They do this so that they can work with as many people as possible in a short period of time and make the most amount of money. This often leads to clients who have a set of documents that don't work for their particular family and their needs. Often family members do not know where to turn when their loved one dies or becomes incapacitated. Most of the time the family does not even know what their loved one owned or how to find it.
Wills
Technically, "probate" is the official procedure for establishing the validity of a Last Will & Testament, after which, probate is the following of the instructions in the will to distribute property to the devisees and legatees, to pay debts and to pay taxes.
Trusts
Trusts — Trusts are flexible instruments that allow you to put conditions on gifts and provide an allowance for a beneficiary rather than a lump sum. When you set up a living trust, for example, you can enjoy your property during your lifetime and transfer wealth seamlessly at your passing, helping your loved ones avoid probate.
Power of Attorney
Having another persons name on your accounts does make it easier for them to pay the bills and manage money for you BUT that person has complete access to your money. As a joint owner they can use the money for their own purpose and worse their creditors have access to your money. A safer strategy is to set up a durable power of attorney, naming them as your agent. If you become unable to manage your finances anymore then they can take the durable power of attorney to the bank and pay your bills.
Most owners have no idea what their business is worth, but knowing its value can be helpful in achieving many goals, especially if a sale is a potential goal. In the meantime, knowing what your business is worth will help in projecting cash flow, estate and gift tax planning, knowing how much insurance to purchase for buy/sell agreements, compensation planning, knowing available collateral for financing, and retirement planning. It is a good idea to discuss business valuation needs with your estate planner, business advisors, and tax professionals. This does not necessarily mean you must obtain a formal appraisal of the business (although for some goals, you might need to). For many purposes, a “rule of thumb” valuation based on a multiple of earnings can be used as an inexpensive approximation of value.