The simple answer is: every adult. But if any of the following describe your life, having the right plan in place isn't optional — it's how you make sure the people you actually care about are protected. You need an estate plan if you:

• Want your wishes honored — not the default rules of intestacy — if something happens to you

• Have minor children, or care for aging parents

• Are married, in a long-term partnership, or have a partner you're not married to

• Have a blended family, a co-parenting arrangement, or chosen family and close friends you consider family

• Own a home, significant assets, or real estate — in one state or several

• Own a business, or hold a stake in one

• Are building or preserving wealth you want to pass on intentionally, not by default

• Have property, family, or citizenship connections outside the U.S.

• Have a loved one with special needs

• Have charitable goals you want to see carried out

The documents and strategies included in an estate plan depend on your family, assets, and goals. A foundational plan may include:

Last Will and Testament: A will directs how property held in your individual name should be distributed after your death. It also names the person who will administer your estate and may appoint guardians for minor children. Note: A will does not avoid probate. Instead, it provides the instructions that the court and your executor will follow during the probate process.

Revocable Living Trust: Holds and manages assets during your lifetime and directs how they will be administered after your death. When properly funded, a revocable trust may help avoid probate, preserve privacy, provide continuity during incapacity, and simplify administration for your loved ones. A trust is not automatically better than a will. The right choice depends on your assets, family structure, goals, and willingness to complete the trust-funding process.

Power of Attorney: Appoints someone to handle financial and legal matters on your behalf. Your agent may need authority to manage bank accounts, pay bills, address taxes, handle real estate, manage business interests, access digital assets, or assist with long-term care planning. Without a valid power of attorney, your family may need to seek court-appointed guardianship if you become unable to manage your affairs.

Health Care Proxy: Names the person you trust to make medical decisions if you cannot make or communicate those decisions yourself. This document is important for every adult, including young adults whose parents no longer have automatic legal authority once the child turns 18.

Living Will: A living will expresses your wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment and end-of-life care. It provides guidance to your healthcare agent, physicians, and family when you cannot speak for yourself.

HIPAA Authorization: Allows designated individuals to receive protected medical information. This can be especially important during an emergency, when family members may otherwise have difficulty communicating with medical providers.

Guardianship Planning: Parents of minor children can use their estate planning documents to nominate the people they would want to care for their children. In New York, planning may include guardian appointments under a will as well as a standby guardianship designation to provide protection during incapacity or another triggering event.

One of the most common questions clients ask is whether they need a will or a revocable living trust.

A will-based plan may be appropriate when:

• Your estate is relatively straightforward

• Probate avoidance is not a significant priority

• Most assets already pass by beneficiary designation or joint ownership

• You want a foundational estate plan at a lower level of complexity

• You are comfortable with court administration after death

A trust-based plan may be appropriate when:

• You want to avoid probate for properly titled assets

• Privacy is important to you

• You own real estate

• You own property in more than one state

• You want continuity of asset management during incapacity

• Your family or financial circumstances are more complex

• You want to simplify administration for your loved ones

The most important issue is not which document sounds more sophisticated. It is which structure best accomplishes your goals.

An estate plan lets you choose who receives what, who is in charge, how children are protected, and who can act for you during incapacity. Without one, state law supplies the default plan. The consequences of this gap are very serious:

• Someone must seek authority to handle your estate. The Surrogate’s Court appoints an administrator through an Administration proceeding. Your family does not get to rely on your choice of executor if you never named one.

• The law decides who inherits assets in your name alone. In New York, if you leave a spouse and children, your spouse receives the first $50,000 plus half the remainder; your children share the other half. If you leave children but no spouse, they inherit everything. An unmarried partner does not inherit under those default rules.

•  You lose the chance to nominate a guardian. If a minor loses two parents, the court has to choose a physical guardian which entails a lengthy process, wherein children will face numerous interventions, some more involved than others, and ultimately the court decides what is best for the child. If a minor inherits a substantial amount, a separate guardianship proceeding for the money may be needed. You also lose the chance to set terms for children’s inheritances.

There is also a gap while you’re alive. Without a power of attorney or health care proxy, the people you trust lack authority to manage your finances or make medical decisions if you cannot. This means either a lengthy court proceeding must ensue, or a non-family member may make medical decisions, and no-one will be managing your assets no matter what is happening with your obligations (e.g. home and mortgage) or in the market.

An estate plan should be reviewed after major life or financial changes, including:

• Marriage or divorce

• Birth or adoption of a child

• Death or incapacity of a beneficiary or fiduciary

• Purchase or sale of real estate

• Starting or selling a business

• Significant changes in wealth

• Receiving an inheritance

• Moving to another state

• Retirement

• Changes in tax law

• Changes in family relationships

Even without a major event, it is helpful to review your plan periodically to confirm that the documents, beneficiary designations, and asset ownership still work together.

Not every estate requires sophisticated tax planning. However, tax analysis may be important when a client:

• Has significant assets

• Owns real estate or a business

• Lives in New York

• Expects substantial future appreciation

• Anticipates an inheritance

• Owns large life insurance policies

• Wants to make lifetime gifts

• Has charitable goals

• Has a non-U.S.-citizen spouse

• Owns assets in multiple jurisdictions

Tax planning may involve federal estate tax, New York estate tax, gift tax, generation-skipping transfer tax, capital-gains tax, basis planning, and income taxation of trusts and retirement accounts.

The goal is not always to minimize estate tax at any cost. Good planning balances tax savings with access, flexibility, simplicity, and financial security.

Probate is the court process for establishing a will's validity, appointing an executor, and overseeing administration of probate assets. Probate is not the same as estate tax and does not govern assets passing by trust, beneficiary designation, or survivorship.

Probate is not always disastrous, but it can involve court filings, delays, public records, and additional administrative work. Whether avoiding probate should be a priority depends on the circumstances.

Your business is probably one of your largest assets — and one of the most overlooked in estate planning. A generic will doesn't answer the questions that matter most:

• If something happens to you, who runs the business tomorrow?

• Does it get sold, passed to a partner, or kept in the family?

• Do your co-owners have a plan that's legally binding, or just a verbal understanding?

• How does the business fit into your overall estate — and your tax picture?

We help business owners plan for all of it: succession and continuity planning, buy-sell agreements, key-person considerations, and how your business interests coordinate with your trusts, taxes, and the rest of your estate plan. The goal is simple — what you built keeps running, and it goes where you want it to go.

If you own property abroad, have family or citizenship ties in another country, or split your life across state lines, your planning needs to account for it. Different jurisdictions mean different rules — and a plan built for one state or one country can leave gaps, or create conflicts, in another.

We help clients coordinate estate planning across state and international lines, so your plan actually works everywhere it needs to.

Here's the part most people don't know: without a plan, state law decides who gets what and who makes decisions for you. That default almost never matches what you'd actually choose — especially if your family doesn't look like the one the law assumes you have. An estate plan puts you back in control.