Direct the outcome yourself
A plan is how you, not a statute or a court, decide who inherits, who administers, and who decides for you if you cannot.
Practice area · Estate Planning · Trusts & Estates
Trusts & Estates
Wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, dynasty trusts, and the multi-generational architecture of family wealth — composed to hold across decades. We build estate plans that direct your assets, name who decides when you cannot, and spare your family the cost and exposure of probate or an outdated plan.
- Discipline
- Estate Planning
- Engagement
- Per matter or retainer
- Counsel
- Christopher Moye
Trusts & Estates
Direct the outcome yourself
A plan is how you, not a statute or a court, decide who inherits, who administers, and who decides for you if you cannot.
The problem
Most people have no estate plan — or one written so long ago it no longer does what they think — and the gap surfaces when they can no longer fix it.
Without a plan, New York's intestacy statute decides who inherits and a court appoints who administers. With an outdated one, old formula clauses, the wrong fiduciary, or unfunded trusts quietly misdirect the estate. Either way the cost lands on the family, and the time to correct it is now, while you can.
Principles · 01
How we draft the matter.
Every engagement is composed against these commitments. They shape the protections we add, the questions we ask, and the document that leaves the file.
Plan for incapacity, not just death
Powers of attorney and health care directives matter while you are alive. We build them in, so a crisis does not require a guardianship.
A plan must be funded and kept current
An unfunded trust or an outdated will fails quietly. We complete the funding and revisit the plan as life and the law change.
What we watch · 02
What can break the matter.
These are the terms, structures, and practical risks that usually decide whether the work holds when the file is tested.
FAMILYSTEWARD
Wills, trusts, and probate avoidance
The right mix of will, revocable trust, and beneficiary designations to direct assets and keep what can be kept out of probate.
FAMILYCAREGIVER
Incapacity planning
Durable powers of attorney, health care proxies, and living wills executed to New York's requirements, so someone can act without court.
FOUNDERHNW
Diverse and complex assets
Plans that integrate a business, real property, intellectual property, and digital assets rather than treating only conventional wealth.
The work · 03
Four steps. One engagement.
Each step is concrete; each step has a deliverable. The scope is defined, the matter moves, and the file closes.
- 01
Assessment
We review your assets, family dynamics, and goals to understand the whole picture before recommending instruments.
- 02
Plan design
We design the will, trusts, and directives that fit your situation, and explain the trade-offs in plain terms.
- 03
Drafting and execution
We prepare the documents and execute them to New York's requirements so they are valid when they are needed.
- 04
Funding and review
We retitle assets into the plan and revisit it as your circumstances or the law change — the step most plans skip.
Proof
What stands behind the work.
What stands behind the work — credentials and representative engagements, stated plainly.
Estate matters are handled by Christopher Moyé, Esq., who authors the firm's published writing on estate planning.
Wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, dynasty trusts, powers of attorney and health care proxies, and trust funding.
We start from your assets, family, and goals — and revisit the plan as those and the law change, because an estate plan is never finished once.
Common questions
Questions clients ask.
Plain answers to the questions that come up most. If yours is not here, send the facts — we answer in writing.
- What is the difference between a will and a trust?
- A will directs who receives your assets and takes effect through probate — a public court process — after death. A trust can hold assets during life and pass them outside probate, privately and often faster, and can manage them if you become incapacitated. Many plans use both; we match the tools to your situation rather than default to one.
- How do I avoid probate in New York?
- Probate is avoided by passing assets outside the will — through a funded revocable trust, beneficiary designations, or joint ownership. The key is funding: a trust only avoids probate for the assets actually retitled into it. We build the plan and complete the funding so it works as intended.
- What happens if I die without a will in New York?
- You die “intestate,” and New York's statute decides who inherits and in what shares — which may not match your wishes, especially in blended families or unmarried partnerships. The court also appoints an administrator. A will, or a trust-based plan, is how you decide instead of the statute.
- Do I need a trust if my estate is small?
- Not always — for a modest estate a well-drafted will, beneficiary designations, and powers of attorney may be enough. A trust earns its cost when you want to avoid probate, plan for incapacity, hold property in multiple states, or protect a beneficiary. We tell you when it is and is not worth it.
- What documents does an estate plan include besides a will?
- Usually a durable power of attorney for finances, a health care proxy for medical decisions, and often a living will — plus trusts where they fit. These handle incapacity, not just death, and are executed to New York's requirements so they work when needed.
COMPOSED TO HOLD ACROSS DECADES
Put a plan in place.
Bring your situation — a growing family, a business, assets in several forms. We build the will, trusts, and directives that fit it, and keep them current.
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