Manhattan Estate Planning Attorney

Estate planning is not really about paperwork. It is about who controls your money and your medical decisions if something happens to you, and who receives what you have worked for when you are gone. Those questions look simple on the surface, but the answers depend on how your assets are titled, what documents you have signed, and whether those documents hold up under New York law. Manhattan estate planning carries particular layers that people outside the city do not always deal with: co-op apartments that cannot receive a transfer on death deed, high-value estates that may owe New York tax even when no federal tax is due, and families that often span multiple states or countries. Cavallo & Cavallo handles estate planning and probate for families across Manhattan and throughout New York City and Westchester, bringing more than three decades of experience to the specific situations that come up in this market.

What surprises many people is how different a Manhattan estate can look from an estate in a suburb or a smaller city, even when the dollar amounts are similar. A co-op in the Upper West Side, a condo in Tribeca, and a house in Westchester each require a different planning approach. Add in a surviving spouse, minor children, a parent who may need Medicaid-covered care, or a business interest, and the right combination of documents shifts again. Getting that combination right before a crisis is the work, and doing it after a crisis is harder and more expensive for everyone involved.

What New York Law Requires for Key Estate Planning Documents

New York’s estate tax has its own exclusion amount that is separate from the federal figure. For deaths occurring in 2026, the state’s basic exclusion is $7,350,000. That matters in Manhattan because an estate can owe New York estate tax while owing nothing at the federal level. The federal basic exclusion for 2026 is $15,000,000 under current federal law, so there is a substantial gap. What makes New York’s tax even more consequential is the cliff rule: once an estate exceeds 105 percent of the state exclusion, the state taxes the entire estate rather than only the amount above the threshold. For 2026 that cliff sits at $7,717,500. A relatively modest difference in estate value at that margin can produce a very large tax bill. Gifts made within three years of death are added back into the estate for New York tax purposes, and that add-back rule currently extends through January 1, 2032.

A health care proxy in New York must be signed and dated by the person making it in front of two adult witnesses who also sign the document. The person named as the health care agent cannot serve as one of those witnesses. The standard for who qualifies to execute a proxy is straightforward: any adult is presumed legally competent to do so unless a court has found otherwise or a guardian of the person has been appointed. New York law also allows witnesses to participate remotely using audio-video technology, provided the remote witness receives a legible copy of the proxy within twenty-four hours of the signing session and returns a signed copy to the principal. That remote option has made it more practical for families to complete these documents when a person is hospitalized or unable to travel.

For long-term care Medicaid that covers nursing home stays, New York applies a 60-month look-back period on asset transfers. That window runs back from the date the applicant is both institutionalized and has applied for Medicaid. Transfers made during that period can generate a penalty that delays coverage, sometimes by years. Planning well before the look-back window opens gives families the most options. For families who are already facing an immediate nursing home admission, some tools are still available, but the range of choices is narrower and the need to act carefully is greater.

When a surviving spouse believes the will shortchanges them, New York law gives them the Right of Election. The surviving spouse is entitled to the greater of $50,000 or one-third of the net estate. The election must be made within six months of letters testamentary being issued to the executor, and no later than two years after the decedent’s death. That deadline is firm, and missing it typically means losing the right entirely.

New York’s transfer on death deed law, which took effect in 2024, allows homeowners to name beneficiaries who receive real property automatically at death without probate. But a co-op is not real property in the legal sense. It is shares in a corporation, so a transfer on death deed cannot be used for a co-op. That means co-op owners who want to avoid a court proceeding need to plan through a trust or another mechanism instead, and the trust itself may need to satisfy the co-op board’s rules.

For families with Medicaid concerns, the discussion also covers what can be protected and over what time horizon, because the 60-month look-back period for nursing home coverage means timing is not a neutral fact.

What a Manhattan Estate Plan Involves, and Why Generic Plans Often Miss the Mark

A will is the document most people think of first, and it is important. But in New York, a will that is not paired with the right beneficiary designations, the correct form of property ownership, and the appropriate trust structure can still send an estate through a lengthy court process. For Manhattan families, the gap between what people expect their documents to do and what those documents accomplish can be significant.

Co-op apartments are one of the clearest examples. Getting that wrong means the family ends up in Surrogate’s Court anyway, which is exactly what the planning was supposed to prevent.

High-value estates in Manhattan also bump into the New York estate tax in ways that require deliberate planning. Because New York has no separate gift tax, strategic lifetime giving can reduce the size of a taxable estate, but the three-year add-back rule means timing matters. A trust can serve multiple purposes at once: it can hold assets outside the taxable estate, provide for a spouse or children, and qualify for the marital deduction. Those decisions require a close look at the actual assets, their ownership, and the family’s longer-term plans, not a template.

Why Families Choose Cavallo & Cavallo for Estate Planning in Manhattan

Gregory Stone leads the estate planning practice at Cavallo & Cavallo. He focuses on wills, trusts, Medicaid planning, and business succession, working with parents who want documents in place before something happens and with families navigating probate after a loss. He was admitted to the New York bar in 2016 and has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star. Attorney Stone’s approach reflects the firm’s overall philosophy: he listens to what a family needs, explains the options in plain terms, and recommends only the documents that fit the specific situation rather than a standard package. The firm’s bilingual staff assists clients in English and Spanish, which matters in a borough as diverse as Manhattan.

The team also makes house calls. If you are elderly, recovering from a surgery, or living with a disability that makes traveling to an office difficult, an attorney can come to your home, hospital room, or care facility to review and sign your documents. That is not a marketing line. It is something the firm has done throughout its history of serving New York families, and it reflects the same standard of care that has kept this practice going for more than 35 years.

Lowrance Fisher, who handles the firm’s real estate work, adds practical depth on the intersection between estate planning and property ownership. He owns and manages investment properties himself, which gives clients with multifamily buildings or investment units a sounding board who understands that world from the inside. For Manhattan families who own property in multiple boroughs or have a mix of real property and co-op shares, having attorneys who work across both disciplines in one place avoids the gaps that can open up when two separate law offices handle different pieces of the same estate. Both Fisher and Stone are recognized as Super Lawyers Rising Stars.

What to Do if You Have Been Putting Off Your Estate Plan

The most common reason people delay estate planning is not that they doubt it matters. It is that they are not sure where to start, or they assume it will be complicated. The practical starting point is simpler than most people expect: gather the documents that reflect what you own and how you own it. That means deed or lease records for any real property or co-op, account statements for bank and investment accounts, retirement account beneficiary designation forms, life insurance policies, and any existing wills or trust documents. If you have a business interest, documents that show your ownership stake belong in that stack too.

Once you have a clear picture of what you own and how it is titled, an estate planning attorney can identify which assets would go through probate under your current arrangement and which would not. That analysis drives the conversation about whether a revocable living trust, a transfer on death deed, updated beneficiary designations, or some combination of those is the right fit.

One mistake people make is treating estate planning as a one-time task. A plan that was right when it was drafted may not be right after a marriage, a divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a beneficiary, or a major change in assets. Reviewing documents after any of those events keeps the plan aligned with the family’s actual circumstances. Another mistake is relying entirely on a will without checking how the property is titled: a will only controls assets that pass through the estate. If a bank account has a named beneficiary or is held jointly, the will has no effect on where that account goes.

If a family member has recently passed away and you are trying to figure out what comes next, the first practical steps are locating the original will, securing the home and any valuables, and collecting recent account and mortgage statements before anyone distributes anything or pays debts. No one should write checks from a decedent’s account or give away belongings until someone has legal authority over the estate, which requires a court appointment. An estate planning attorney serving Manhattan families can walk you through what that appointment process looks like for an estate in New York County.

What Estate Planning in Manhattan Covers

• Wills for Manhattan residents: A properly executed will names your executor, your beneficiaries, and a guardian for minor children, and it controls assets that pass through the estate rather than by beneficiary designation or joint ownership.
• Revocable living trusts: A trust holds assets during your lifetime and transfers them to your beneficiaries after death without a probate proceeding, which can be especially valuable for real property and accounts that would otherwise require a Surrogate’s Court filing.
• Irrevocable trusts for Medicaid and tax planning: These trusts remove assets from your estate for specific purposes, including reducing the size of a taxable estate or positioning assets outside the Medicaid look-back window, with the trade-off that the transfer is permanent.
• Powers of attorney: A durable power of attorney names someone to manage your financial affairs if you become incapacitated, and in New York the document must follow specific execution requirements to be accepted by banks and other institutions.
• Health care proxies and living wills: A health care proxy names the person who will make medical decisions for you when you cannot; a living will states your specific wishes about treatment; and a MOLST form translates those wishes into medical orders that emergency responders can follow.
• Special needs planning: For families with a child or other dependent who receives government benefits, a special needs trust holds assets in a way that supplements care without disqualifying the person from programs they depend on.
• Medicaid asset protection trusts and NYSARC pooled trusts: These tools address the financial impact of nursing home and long-term home care costs, which can otherwise deplete a lifetime of savings, and they require careful attention to timing relative to the Medicaid look-back period.
• Probate and estate administration in New York County: When a family member passes away, an executor or administrator needs to be appointed by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, before any estate assets can be formally managed or distributed.

Cavallo & Cavallo’s Estate Planning Services Across Manhattan and New York

Manhattan clients working with Cavallo & Cavallo are served as part of the firm’s broader practice across the five boroughs and Westchester. From Manhattan, the firm also serves families in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx, along with communities throughout Westchester County including Yonkers, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Scarsdale, New Rochelle, Harrison, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, and Pelham. The firm extends its estate planning and probate work into Putnam County as well. For clients dealing with estates that include property in multiple boroughs or counties, working with attorneys who handle both the estate side and the real estate side means the sale of a parent’s co-op or condo in Manhattan can move forward without delays caused by two separate offices working in parallel.

Questions Manhattan Families Ask About Estate Planning

Do I need a trust if I already have a will?

A will and a trust do different things. A will controls assets that pass through your estate, but assets held jointly or with a named beneficiary do not go through the estate at all. A trust can hold assets during your lifetime and transfer them without probate, which can simplify the process for your family significantly. Whether you need a trust depends on what you own, how it is titled, and what outcome you want.

Can I use a transfer on death deed for my Manhattan co-op?

No. New York’s transfer on death deed applies only to real property, and a co-op apartment is legally shares in a corporation rather than real property. If you want your co-op to pass outside of probate, options include a trust or specific forms of ownership, but those options also need to work within your co-op board’s rules.

What happens if I do not have a health care proxy and I am hospitalized?

Without a health care proxy, New York law has a default order of surrogates who can make medical decisions for you, beginning with a spouse and moving through family members. That default order may not match your actual wishes, and it can create conflict among family members. Naming an agent in writing removes that uncertainty and gives the person you trust clear legal authority.

How does the New York estate tax cliff work, and why does it matter for Manhattan estates?

New York’s estate tax has an unusual structure: once an estate exceeds a certain percentage of the state exclusion, the entire estate is taxed rather than only the amount above the threshold. The result is that an estate just over the cliff can owe significantly more tax than an estate just under it. For Manhattan estates where property values often push total assets close to that threshold, understanding where you stand and whether planning can keep the estate below the cliff is a meaningful conversation to have.

My parent’s will leaves me everything, but their bank account named my sibling as beneficiary. Who gets the account?

The named beneficiary on the account controls, regardless of what the will says. A will only affects assets that pass through the estate. If your parent designated your sibling as beneficiary on that account, the account goes to your sibling when your parent dies, and the will has no effect on it. This is one of the most common disconnects between what people believe their estate plan does and what it does.

Can I protect my assets from nursing home costs if I am already in a facility?

Planning ahead gives families the most options, but families already facing a nursing home admission are not without choices. Some tools are still available depending on the circumstances, including certain trust arrangements. What matters is acting quickly and working with an attorney who understands the Medicaid rules, because mistakes in timing or asset transfers can delay coverage and cause the family to spend down more than necessary.

What is the difference between a living will and a health care proxy in New York?

A health care proxy names a person who will make medical decisions for you when you cannot speak for yourself. A living will states your specific wishes about medical treatment, particularly at end of life. New York also recognizes a MOLST form, which translates those wishes into actual medical orders that emergency responders can follow in a crisis, something a standard living will cannot do on its own. Most people benefit from having both a proxy and a living will.

What if my family members disagree about what my parent would have wanted after they pass away?

Disagreements among family members are one of the most common complications in estate administration and probate. If a will is contested or family members are disputing how assets should be distributed, an executor has specific legal duties and sometimes needs legal support to carry them out. If a family member believes an executor is not acting properly, there are also processes to address that through the Surrogate’s Court.

Can my attorney meet with me at home or in the hospital to sign documents?

Yes. Cavallo & Cavallo makes house calls for clients who are elderly, disabled, or unable to travel, including visits to hospitals and care facilities. That option allows people who need documents in place urgently, whether because of a recent diagnosis or a planned surgery, to get the right signatures done without the stress of leaving their home or facility.

Is there a minimum estate size where planning starts to make sense?

There is no minimum. The benefits of planning show up at every asset level, though the specific tools that make sense differ. Someone with a modest bank account and a co-op apartment needs a plan to avoid putting their family through a court proceeding. Someone with a larger estate has the additional consideration of New York’s estate tax. The conversation with an attorney always starts with what you own and what outcome you want for your family.

Speak with a Manhattan Estate Planning Attorney Today

Your family’s situation is specific. The assets, the relationships, the property types, and the concerns about future care are yours alone, and a plan that fits requires a real conversation with someone who understands how New York law applies to what you have. Cavallo & Cavallo offers free consultations to families looking for a Manhattan estate planning attorney, with no obligation and no sales pitch. Call the Bronx office or the New Rochelle office to schedule a time to speak with an attorney who will listen, answer your questions honestly, and walk you through a clear plan for whatever comes next.