Fill Out the Form
Complete the Will Information Sheet (“WIS”) or call 716-542-5444 and request that the WIS be mailed to you.
Estate Planning Checklist
Experienced Estate Planning Attorneys in Buffalo, NY
Estate planning is not just for the old and wealthy. Even young, single people should start legal, financial and medical planning for death or disability.
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Since 1955, the experienced Buffalo estate planning attorneys at Friedman & Ranzenhofer, PC has been dedicated to providing our Buffalo clients with quality estate planning services, such as drafting living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, healthcare proxies, charitable planning documents, and more.  Pet owners, divorced people, same sex couples and unmarried couples also have special estate planning needs.
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4 Easy Steps to Prepare Your Will Without Leaving Your Home or Car
For your safety, we are offering remote or drive-up no-contact document signing during the COVID-19 crisis. We are available by phone or email at any time to answer your questions. These are the easy steps to have your will, power of attorney and health care proxy/living will prepared:
Return the Form
Return the WIS to us either electronically via online form, by scanned email, fax 716-542-4090 or by mail to POB 31, Akron, NY 14001.
Schedule an Appointment
When we receive your WIS, we will call you or email you to schedule an initial telephone conference.
Get Your Will
During the telephone conference, we will advise you when the documents will be mailed to you and the total fees which can be paid by check or any credit card at WNY-Lawyers.com.
Remote signing by Facetime, Skype, or other teleconferencing service.
A. You must affirmatively represent that you are physically situated in the State of New York.
B. You must transmit by fax or electronic means a legible copy of the signed document directly to us on the same date you signed it.
C. Mail the signed documents to our Akron office within seven days.
D. We will mail a copy of your will and the original notarized power of attorney and health care proxy to you
Remote no-contact signing in your car if you do not have access to Skype, Facetime, or other teleconferencing service:
A. Drive to one of our offices at the appointment time and stay in your car.
For an additional charge, we can drive to your home.
B. Call our cell phone number and we will drive or walk up alongside your car.
C. We will speak via cell phones and observe the signing through the car windows.
D. Deposit the documents in our mailbox.
E. We will mail a copy of your will and the original notarized power if attorney and health care proxy to you.
You should discuss the following estate planning checklist with your attorney:
- Durable Powers of Attorney. By signing a power of attorney, you can authorize another person to act on your behalf to perform any number of specified onto such as: real estate transactions, banking, operation of a business, insurance or lawsuits.There are two types of durable powers of attorney:
- An “immediate power of attorney” which is not affected by your subsequent disability or incapacity; and
- A “springing power of attorney” which does not go into effect until you become disabled or incapacitated.
2. Trusts are an agreement under which a person or institution (trustee) holds legal title to real or personal property for the benefit of another (beneficiary). The person who creates the trust is known as the grantor.
The trust agreement sets forth the rights and responsibilities of all parties involved. Living trusts, also known as inter vivos trusts, have numerous advantages including proper management of assets; avoidance of probate; eliminating the need for guardianships, life estates or joint ownership; and assuring privacy.
3. The Living Will is a declaration which instructs your family and your doctor about life-prolonging medical procedures when your condition is terminal and there is no chance of recovery. Under constitutional and common law, you have the right to refuse medical treatment. A living will gives you the opportunity to express your wishes in advance, since you may not be able to make them known when it becomes necessary to do so. Life prolonging procedures include hooking you up to a machine when you cannot breathe on your own, performing operations or prescribing antibiotics that cannot realistically increase your chance of recovery, starting your heart mechanically when it has stopped beating or feeding you by tube.
4. Health Care Proxies recognize your right to appoint a health care agent that you trust to decide about medical treatment in the event that you become unable to decide personally. Unless you specify otherwise, the agent will have the same authority that you would decide about treatment. The authority encompasses the right to forego treatment or to consent for needed treatment. The agent’s authority begins only when a physician determines that you have lost the capacity to decide about treatment.
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5. Wills. By executing a will, you may dispose of property at your death in the proportions and to the persons you wish, appoint competent and trustworthy executors, trustees and children’s guardians and create testamentary trusts.
6. Life Estates should be explored.
7. Joint Ownership should also be considered.
8. Gifts can also be a significant element of one’s estate-planning strategy.
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We hope our estate planning checklist helped you better understand what is needed when planning your estate. If you still have questions, please contact our dedicated Buffalo estate planning lawyers for experienced guidance you can trust.
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