New York Estate Planning: A Personalized Overview for 2026

No two families are alike, and no two estate plans should be either. A plan that protects a young couple in Brooklyn with a first home looks nothing like the plan that protects a retired business owner in Westchester, a blended family on Long Island, or a parent in the Hudson Valley caring for a child with special needs. At Morgan Legal Group, attorney Russel Morgan, Esq. and our team build estate plans the way they should be built — one person and one family at a time, around your specific goals, your assets, and the people you love.

This overview explains how the core pieces of a New York estate plan fit together in 2026, what the law actually requires, and how a personalized approach changes the outcome. We serve clients statewide — New York City, Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Upstate — and every plan we draft is coordinated as a single, deliberate strategy rather than a stack of disconnected forms.

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What a Complete New York Estate Plan Includes

A comprehensive estate plan in New York is not one document — it is four core instruments working together:

Document	What it does	Governing NY law
Last Will & Testament	Directs who inherits, names an executor, names guardians for minor children	EPTL §3-2.1
Trust(s)	Avoids probate, protects assets, can reduce estate tax, preserves public benefits	EPTL Article 7
Durable Power of Attorney	Authorizes someone to handle your finances if you cannot	GOL §5-1513
Health Care Proxy	Authorizes someone to make your medical decisions if you cannot	Public Health Law Article 29-C

The strength of a plan comes from how these documents are coordinated. A will that contradicts the way your trust is funded, or a power of attorney that conflicts with your trustee’s authority, creates exactly the confusion estate planning is meant to prevent. The personalized approach starts here: we map your actual assets and relationships first, then choose and draft documents to match — never the reverse.

Your Will: The Foundation (EPTL §3-2.1)

Your will is where you put your wishes into legally binding language. Under EPTL §3-2.1, a valid New York will requires that:

• The testator (you) signs at the END of the document;
• The signing is witnessed by two attesting witnesses; and
• You publish the document — that is, you declare to those witnesses that it is your will.

A will lets you name your executor and, critically for parents, name a guardian for minor children — a decision no one else should make for you.

If you die without a will (intestate), New York decides for you. Intestacy is governed by EPTL Article 4, which distributes your estate by a fixed statutory formula that may not reflect your wishes at all — leaving more to a distant relative than you intended, or nothing to the people and causes you actually care about. A personalized will exists precisely so the State’s default formula never applies to your family.

Learn more on our Wills page.

Trusts: Tailored Protection (EPTL Article 7)

Trusts are where a personalized plan does its most powerful work, because the right trust depends entirely on your goal. Under EPTL Article 7, the main tools include:

• Revocable living trust. Holds your assets during life and passes them to your beneficiaries without probate — privately, and without court delay. Note: a revocable trust offers no estate-tax savings, because you keep full control of the assets. Its value is probate avoidance and continuity, which matters greatly for clients with property in more than one county or state.
• Irrevocable trust. Used for tax reduction, asset protection, and Medicaid planning. Because you give up control, assets can be removed from your taxable estate and shielded from future creditors or long-term-care costs. For Medicaid, New York applies a five-year look-back, so timing is everything — the earlier we plan, the more options you have.
• Supplemental (Special) Needs Trust (SNT). Under EPTL §7-1.12, an SNT lets you provide for a loved one with disabilities without disqualifying them from means-tested public benefits like Medicaid and SSI.

Choosing among these is not a checklist exercise — it is a conversation about what you are trying to protect and from what. See our Trusts page for detail.

Powers of Attorney & Health Care Proxies

These two documents protect you while you are alive — the part of planning people most often delay, and most often regret skipping.

A Power of Attorney under GOL §5-1513 lets you appoint an agent to manage your finances. In New York it is durable by default, meaning it remains effective even if you become incapacitated. New York overhauled this area with the 2021 statutory short form, which simplified execution and strengthened protections against agents who refuse to honor a valid POA. Done right, it lets a trusted agent pay your bills, manage property, and handle financial matters without a court proceeding. See Power of Attorney.

A Health Care Proxy under Public Health Law Article 29-C appoints an agent to make medical decisions for you if you cannot speak for yourself. This is distinct from the financial POA — different agent, different authority, different statute — and the two should be chosen thoughtfully so the right person holds the right power. See Health Care Proxy.

A personalized plan asks the questions that matter here: Should the same person control both your money and your medical care? Who is your backup if your first choice cannot serve? Generic forms never ask. We do.

The New York Estate Tax in 2026 — and the Cliff

New York imposes its own estate tax, separate from the federal one, and it contains a trap that catches the unprepared.

For deaths on or after January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, the basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000. Estates below that figure owe no New York estate tax.

The danger is the “cliff.” New York phases out the exemption entirely once an estate exceeds 105% of the exclusion — a threshold of $7,717,500 in 2026. An estate that climbs over the cliff loses the ENTIRE exemption and is taxed from the first dollar, not just on the excess. The tax rate is progressive, ranging from 3% to 16%.

2026 figure	Amount
NY basic exclusion	$7,350,000
Cliff threshold (105%)	$7,717,500
Result if estate exceeds the cliff	Entire exemption lost — taxed from dollar one
NY estate tax rates	Progressive, 3%–16%

One more planning point unique to New York: there is no New York gift tax. However, gifts made within three years of death are added back to the taxable estate. Lifetime gifting can be a smart way to plan around the cliff — but only when it is timed and documented correctly.

For clients near the cliff, the difference between a personalized plan and an off-the-shelf one can be measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Read our deeper NY Estate Tax Guide.

New York’s estate tax figures are published by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Why a Personalized Plan Outperforms a Template

The instruments above are the same statewide. What differs — what should always differ — is how they are assembled for you:

• Your assets drive the design. A retirement-heavy estate is planned differently from a real-estate-heavy or business-heavy one.
• Your family shapes the safeguards. Blended families, minor children, a beneficiary with a disability, or a relative who shouldn’t inherit outright each call for different language.
• Your goals set the priorities. Probate avoidance, tax reduction, Medicaid eligibility, and privacy are not the same objective — and pursuing one can affect another.

Because we serve clients across all of New York, we coordinate plans for families with property and beneficiaries in multiple counties, drawing each document to the same statewide standard. See our New York Statewide Guide for how this works wherever you live in the state.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need both a will and a trust in New York?

Often, yes. A revocable living trust can avoid probate and keep your affairs private, but a “pour-over” will is still recommended to catch any assets not titled in the trust and to name guardians for minor children — which only a will can do. The right combination depends on your specific assets and goals.

What happens if I die without a will in New York?

Your estate passes by intestacy under EPTL Article 4, a fixed statutory formula that distributes property to relatives in a set order. That formula may not match your wishes, may exclude unmarried partners and charities entirely, and removes your ability to choose your executor or your children’s guardian.

What is the New York estate tax “cliff” in 2026?

In 2026 the New York basic exclusion is $7,350,000. If your estate exceeds 105% of that amount — $7,717,500 — you lose the entire exemption, and the estate is taxed from the first dollar at progressive rates of 3% to 16%. Planning near this threshold is critical.

Is a financial power of attorney the same as a health care proxy?

No. A Power of Attorney (GOL §5-1513) covers financial decisions and is durable by default. A Health Care Proxy (Public Health Law Article 29-C) covers medical decisions. They are separate documents under separate statutes, and you may name different agents for each.

How does Medicaid planning fit into my estate plan?

Medicaid planning typically uses an irrevocable trust to protect assets from long-term-care costs, but New York applies a five-year look-back to transfers. Because timing controls how much can be protected, the earlier you plan, the more options remain available to you.

Build a Plan That Reflects You

Your estate plan is a reflection of your life and your priorities — it deserves more than a fill-in-the-blank form. Russel Morgan, Esq. and the team at Morgan Legal Group create coordinated, personalized estate plans for individuals and families throughout New York State.

Book your one-on-one consultation with Russel Morgan, Esq. →