If you have never made an estate plan before, the vocabulary alone can feel like a foreign language — testator, probate, intestacy, irrevocable trust. This page is your starting line. We strip the jargon down to plain English, define each term as it comes up, and walk you through the fundamentals of estate planning in New York State, step by step.
Estate planning is simply the process of deciding — in advance and in writing — who gets what you own, who makes decisions if you cannot, and how to keep more of your estate out of court and out of the taxman’s reach. It applies whether you live in Manhattan, on Long Island, in Westchester, the Hudson Valley, or anywhere Upstate. The law is the same statewide; only the local Surrogate’s Court that handles your paperwork changes.
This overview is provided by Morgan Legal Group and attorney Russel Morgan, Esq. When you are ready to build your plan, you can schedule a 30-minute consultation.
What “Estate Planning” Actually Means
Your estate is everything you own — your home, bank and brokerage accounts, retirement savings, life insurance, a business, personal property. An estate plan is the set of legal documents that controls what happens to all of it, both while you are alive (if you become incapacitated) and after you pass away.
A common beginner mistake is to think estate planning means “just writing a will.” A will is essential, but it is only one of four building blocks. A truly comprehensive New York estate plan coordinates four core documents so they work together:
| Document | What it does | When it works | NY law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Will & Testament | Names who inherits your property and who raises your minor children | After death | EPTL §3-2.1 |
| Trust(s) | Holds assets to avoid probate, reduce tax, or protect benefits | During life & after death | EPTL Article 7 |
| Durable Power of Attorney | Lets someone manage your finances if you cannot | While you are alive | GOL §5-1513 |
| Health Care Proxy | Lets someone make your medical decisions if you cannot | While you are alive | Public Health Law Art. 29-C |
The two “lifetime” documents (the power of attorney and the health care proxy) protect you while you are living. The will and trusts protect the people and causes you care about after you are gone. Leave any one of them out and a gap opens — often a gap that lands your family in court.
The First Building Block: Your Will
A will (formally, a Last Will and Testament) is the document that says who receives your property, names an executor (the person who carries out your wishes), and — if you have young children — names a guardian to raise them.
New York is strict about how a will is signed. Under EPTL §3-2.1, a valid will requires:
- Two attesting witnesses who watch you sign (or acknowledge your signature);
- The testator — that’s you, the person making the will — signing at the end of the document; and
- Publication, meaning you tell the witnesses that the document is your will.
Get these formalities wrong and a court can throw the whole document out. That is why a do-it-yourself will is risky in New York.
What happens if you die without a will?
Dying without a valid will is called dying intestate. When that happens, New York’s intestacy rules — found in EPTL Article 4 — decide who inherits, using a fixed family-tree formula. The state’s order may not match your wishes at all: an unmarried partner, a favorite charity, or a stepchild can be left with nothing. Writing a will is how you take that decision back. Learn more on our wills page.
The Second Building Block: Trusts
A trust is a legal arrangement where one person (the trustee) holds and manages assets for the benefit of another (the beneficiary). Trusts are governed by EPTL Article 7, and they are the single most misunderstood tool in estate planning. The key is knowing the two main types.
Revocable living trust. “Revocable” means you can change or cancel it any time. You move assets into the trust during your life and stay in control. Its superpower is avoiding probate — the public, often slow court process of validating a will. Assets in a living trust pass directly to your beneficiaries without a Surrogate’s Court proceeding. Important beginner caveat: a revocable trust gives no estate-tax savings. It is a probate-avoidance and privacy tool, not a tax tool.
Irrevocable trust. “Irrevocable” means you give up control in exchange for powerful benefits. Because the assets are no longer legally “yours,” an irrevocable trust can be used for tax reduction, asset protection, and Medicaid planning. New York’s Medicaid program applies a five-year look-back — it reviews asset transfers made in the five years before you apply for long-term-care coverage, so this kind of planning must be done well in advance.
A special category, the Supplemental (or Special) Needs Trust under EPTL §7-1.12, lets you leave money to a loved one with a disability without disqualifying them from need-based government benefits like Medicaid and SSI.
See our trusts page for how to choose between them.
The Third Building Block: Durable Power of Attorney
A power of attorney (POA) lets you appoint an agent to handle your financial affairs — paying bills, managing accounts, dealing with property — if you cannot do so yourself.
Under GOL §5-1513, a New York power of attorney is durable by default, which is the whole point: “durable” means it stays in effect even if you become mentally incapacitated. New York overhauled this area in 2021 with a modernized statutory short form that is easier to execute and harder for banks to wrongly reject. Without a valid durable POA, your family may have to petition a court for guardianship to manage your money — an expensive, public, and stressful process that good planning avoids entirely. More on our power of attorney page.
The Fourth Building Block: Health Care Proxy
A health care proxy, authorized by Public Health Law Article 29-C, appoints an agent to make your medical decisions if you are unable to speak for yourself.
Beginners often assume the financial POA covers this too — it does not. The financial power of attorney and the health care proxy are two separate documents with two separate purposes: one handles money, the other handles medicine. A complete plan has both. Read more on our health care proxy page.
The 2026 New York Estate Tax — and the “Cliff” Everyone Misses
Even modest New York estates can face a state estate tax, and New York has a quirk that catches the unprepared. Here are the verified 2026 figures.
- Basic exclusion amount (2026): $7,350,000. For deaths on or after January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, estates at or below this amount generally owe no New York estate tax.
- The cliff at 105% — $7,717,500. New York’s exclusion is not a simple deduction. If your taxable estate exceeds 105% of the exclusion — that is $7,717,500 in 2026 — you lose the entire exemption. The estate is then taxed from the very first dollar, not just the amount over the line. This is the infamous New York “estate tax cliff,” and falling just over it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- Tax rate: progressive, ranging from 3% to 16%.
- No gift tax — but a 3-year clawback. New York has no gift tax, so lifetime gifts are not taxed when made. However, gifts made within three years of death are added back to your taxable estate. That means deathbed gifting to dodge the cliff usually does not work.
The practical lesson for a 101 audience: if your estate is anywhere near $7 million, planning around the cliff (often with irrevocable trusts or a structured gifting program done years in advance) can be the difference between owing nothing and owing a fortune. Our NY estate tax guide walks through strategies in detail.
Your Estate Planning Starter Checklist
For someone just beginning, here is a fundamentals-first sequence:
- Take inventory. List what you own, what you owe, and who you want to inherit it.
- Write a valid will that meets EPTL §3-2.1’s witness and signing rules.
- Decide whether you need a trust — revocable for probate avoidance, irrevocable for tax/Medicaid/asset protection.
- Sign a durable power of attorney (the 2021 statutory short form) so finances are covered.
- Sign a health care proxy so medical decisions are covered.
- Name and update beneficiaries on retirement accounts and life insurance — these pass outside your will.
- Check your estate-tax exposure against the 2026 cliff if your net worth is meaningful.
- Review every few years and after any major life change — marriage, divorce, a birth, a move, or a death.
A statewide perspective on how this plays out across New York’s counties and courts is on our New York statewide guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need all four documents, or is a will enough?
A will alone leaves big gaps. It does nothing while you are alive, so if you become incapacitated without a durable power of attorney (GOL §5-1513) and a health care proxy (Public Health Law Article 29-C), your family may need court intervention. A comprehensive New York plan coordinates the will, trust(s), POA, and proxy together.
What’s the difference between a revocable and an irrevocable trust?
A revocable living trust can be changed anytime and helps you avoid probate, but gives no estate-tax savings. An irrevocable trust requires giving up control, but in exchange it can reduce taxes, protect assets, and support Medicaid planning (subject to the five-year look-back). Both fall under EPTL Article 7.
What happens if I die without a will in New York?
You die “intestate,” and EPTL Article 4 decides who inherits using a fixed family formula. Partners you are not married to, friends, and charities receive nothing under that formula — only a valid will lets you direct where your property goes.
How does the New York estate tax cliff work in 2026?
The 2026 exclusion is $7,350,000. If your taxable estate exceeds 105% of that — $7,717,500 — you lose the entire exemption and are taxed from the first dollar at rates of 3% to 16%. Planning ahead is critical because gifts within three years of death are added back to the estate.
When should I start estate planning?
Now. Incapacity and accidents do not wait for old age, and tools like Medicaid-friendly irrevocable trusts depend on a five-year look-back, so the earlier you plan, the more options you have. Schedule a consultation to get started.
Ready to Build Your Plan?
Estate planning is not just for the wealthy or the elderly — it is for anyone who wants their wishes honored and their family spared from court. Morgan Legal Group and attorney Russel Morgan, Esq. help New Yorkers statewide turn these fundamentals into a coordinated, properly executed plan.
Schedule your 30-minute consultation »
Further reading from Morgan Legal Group: estate planning in New York.