Wills

Did You Know?

• That if you die without a will as a resident of the State of New Jersey, your spouse will NOT automatically inherit all of your assets?
• That your family will have to post a potentially costly bond in order to administer your estate?
• That any property inherited by your child will automatically be held by the Surrogate's Court until he or she attains the age of 18 years, at which point ALL of the child's inheritance will be handed over to such child by the Court?
• That if you have no children, your spouse will likely have to share part of your estate with your parents, if they are still living?
• All of these generally unintended negative results can be avoided by your executing a simple will.

 Our lawyers can draft simple wills or complex wills with trust provisions, including:

• Credit shelter trusts.
• QTIP trusts (primarily for second marriages).
• QDOT trusts (for non-US citizens).
• Special needs trusts (to preserve eligibility for governmental benefits).
• Living trusts (for minors or those with special needs).
• QPRTs (qualified personal residence trusts).
• Grantor retained trusts (GRATs and GRITs).
• Charitable remainder and lead trusts.
• Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs for individual life insurance coverage as well as "second-to-die/survivorship" coverage).
• Family limited partnerships (to take advantage of the planning and valuation benefits afforded by those entities).

Our lawyers have significant experience in the preparation of general and limited powers of attorney, living wills, and health care powers of attorney. We also provide elder law services such as Medicaid planning.