Nassau County wills and trusts attorney
for clear, practical documents
Why A Will Still Matters
A will lets you decide who receives your home, accounts, and personal items, and it names guardians for minor children. The Law Offices of Laurence Rogers prepares wills that reflect real life, not just boilerplate. We discuss backup decision makers, how to handle a co-op or condo, and how to leave instructions that reduce conflict among siblings from Valley Stream to Jamaica.
If you are just starting, our
estate planning page shows how a will fits into your full plan.
How Trusts Complement Your Plan
Trusts can hold assets for children, provide for a spouse while preserving an inheritance for kids, protect a family member with special needs, or keep transfers private. A living trust can also help avoid probate for assets titled into the trust. We explain funding steps so accounts and the deed to your Long Island home are correctly aligned.
Choosing Between A Will And A Living Trust
Almost everyone arrives at this question having already read a dozen articles describing what a will does and what a trust does, and still not knowing which one they need. Descriptions do not decide anything. The decision comes down to four questions, and your answers point clearly in one direction or the other.
Step 1:
Does avoiding Surrogate's Court matter to you?
A will is proved in court after death, which takes months and becomes a public record. A funded living trust transfers assets without that proceeding. If your main concern is speed and privacy for your family, that difference is the whole argument.
Step 2:
Do you own real estate in more than one state?
If you own property outside New York, a will means a separate court proceeding in each state where you hold real estate. A trust holding all of it avoids that entirely, and this single factor decides the question for many families.
Step 3:
How much conflict do you expect?
A will can be contested in Surrogate's Court by anyone with standing, and blended families and unequal distributions among siblings draw the most challenges. A trust is harder to attack and keeps the terms out of public view, which sometimes prevents the fight from starting.
Step 4:
Are you willing to fund it and maintain it?
This is where trusts fail in practice. A trust only controls assets actually retitled into it. An unfunded trust accomplishes nothing at all, and the deed to your home, your accounts, and your beneficiary designations all have to line up. If you will not do that work, a well-drafted will serves you better than a neglected trust.
For a good number of Nassau County families the answer is both, using a will for the estate generally and a trust for the house. We will tell you when a simple will is genuinely sufficient, because recommending more than you need is its own kind of bad advice. The broader
estate planning overview shows how these documents fit with powers of attorney and health care directives.
Signing A Will That Holds Up In New York
A will that is not executed correctly can be denied probate, and the people who find out are your family, years later, when nothing can be done about it. New York's formal requirements are specific, and meeting them is the easiest part of this entire process as long as someone is paying attention.
Under New York law, a valid will must be in writing and signed at the end by you. You must declare to the witnesses that the document is your will. There must be at least two attesting witnesses, they must sign within thirty days of each other, and you must either sign in front of them or acknowledge your signature to them.
We also attach a self-proving affidavit to every will we draft. This is worth understanding correctly, because it is often described as a requirement and it is not. A will is valid without one. What the affidavit does is create a presumption that the will was properly executed, so your executor does not have to locate your witnesses years later and ask them to testify about a signing they may barely remember, or may not have survived to describe.
The signing itself happens in our office, supervised, with witnesses and a notary present. You leave with instructions for storing the original and a short checklist for the beneficiary designations at your bank and on your retirement accounts, since those pass outside the will entirely and are the most common thing people forget to align. If anything changes later, you can
contact our office for an update or a copy.
Will And Trust Questions New York Families Ask
Do I need a will or a trust in New York?
If your concern is simply directing who receives what, a will handles it at lower cost. If you want to avoid Surrogate's Court, own real estate in another state, or expect a family dispute, a trust earns its additional cost. Many families use both.
How many witnesses do I need for a will in New York?
At least two attesting witnesses, and they must sign within thirty days of each other. You must also declare to them that the document is your will and either sign in their presence or acknowledge your signature to them.
Does a living trust avoid probate in New York?
Yes, but only for assets actually retitled into it. This is the point most people miss. A trust that was signed but never funded does not avoid anything, and the house, the accounts, and the beneficiary forms all have to be moved or aligned for it to work.
What happens without a trust in New York?
Your will governs, and the estate goes through Surrogate's Court. That means a public filing, a waiting period before your executor has authority to act, and a timeline usually measured in a year or more. It is not a disaster, it is just slower and less private than most people picture.
Can I name a guardian for my children in my will?
Yes, and you should name an alternate as well. The court gives real weight to your nomination, but it is not bound by it, which is another reason to explain your reasoning in the document rather than simply listing a name.
How often should I update my documents?
After any significant change, and otherwise every few years. Marriage, divorce, a birth, a death among your named people, buying or selling a home, or a move between states are all reasons to revisit the documents rather than assume they still work.
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