A clear plan matters when your family needs it most.
A revocable living trust keeps your wishes organized, helps your family avoid probate for trust-held assets, and lets a successor trustee step in if you cannot manage things yourself.
Our attorneys set up and fund your revocable living trust personally, under one flat fee agreed in writing before work starts.
Revocable Living Trust Options for New York Families
A revocable living trust can make things easier for your family when they need to step in. It keeps your wishes clear, your assets organized, and certain property outside the probate process.
You stay in control the whole time: you can change the trust, update beneficiaries, or revoke it entirely as your plans evolve. We build your revocable living trust around the assets and people that matter to you, whether that is a Manhattan co-op, a Brooklyn brownstone, or a family home passed down for generations.
Once you fund your trust, your successor trustee can manage trust assets if you become incapacitated, and your family can avoid probate for assets held in the trust.
Funding means retitling a house or deed into the trust's name and moving a bank account or brokerage account into the trust, where the institution allows it. Retirement accounts and life insurance with a named beneficiary already pass outside probate, with or without a trust in place.
- A revocable living trust names your successor trustee and sets out how each asset gets distributed.
- The trust holds only the assets you actually transfer into it, so a signed document with nothing funded behind it will not keep your estate out of court.
- A pour-over will catches anything you forget to retitle, so the plan still holds together if you miss a step.
- Trust assets generally stay off the public record that comes with a Surrogate's Court filing.
Is a Revocable Living Trust Right for You?
The right revocable living trust New York clients need depends on what they own and who they want to protect. A revocable living trust in New York typically serves:
- Co-op, condo, or house owners who want a transfer for their family that stays off the public record.
- Clients holding retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, or life insurance with named beneficiaries who want those assets to reach beneficiaries without delay.
- Anyone planning for incapacity, since a successor trustee named in the trust can step in immediately if illness or injury leaves you unable to manage your own affairs, without a separate guardianship proceeding first.
- Blended families who want more say over how and when assets pass to a current spouse and children from a prior relationship.
- Clients splitting time between New York and another state who want a plan that still works if they move.
- Anyone weighing a revocable structure against an irrevocable trust for estate tax or Medicaid planning. We can walk through both side by side.
What a revocable trust covers
It avoids probate for funded assets and gives your successor trustee authority to step in if you become incapacitated.
What it doesn't cover
A revocable trust does not protect against New York estate tax or a Medicaid spend-down. An irrevocable trust can.
Many families raise both goals in the same conversation, since a will, a revocable trust, and a Medicaid plan often need to work together rather than stand apart.
Setting Up and Funding Your Trust
Setting up a revocable living trust New York courts recognize starts with a single planning conversation, not a stack of paperwork. You walk through what you own, who you trust as executor and successor trustee, and what you want to avoid.
- Discovery comes first, as we map your assets, beneficiaries, and concerns against New York's Surrogate's Court practice and the state's Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.
- From there, drafting begins: your trust, pour-over will, and supporting documents come back in plain language you review before anything is signed.
- Once you approve everything, signing happens, with documents executed and notarized following New York's required steps.
- The last step is funding, when deeds, brokerage accounts, and co-op paperwork are retitled into the trust's name, including board consent packages where a co-op requires them.
A revocable living trust New York attorneys draft under the EPTL only works once it holds your trust assets.
We handle that retitling step directly, rather than leaving it for you to complete after signing.
Comparing a revocable vs. irrevocable trust side by side during this stage helps you see which pieces your plan needs.
Direct Attorney Access, Backed by New York Court Knowledge
You will work with one attorney who personally handles your matter, including your first call, drafting, signing, and funding.
Your attorney is licensed in New York, Florida, and New Jersey, holds Surrogate's Court Counselor and Medicaid Planning Professional standing, and has guided more than 500 families through wills, trusts, and Surrogate's Court matters.
What that looks like in practice:
- You agree on a flat fee in writing before drafting starts, so the cost of your plan stays clear from day one, with no hourly billing surprises later.
- The same attorney handles every call and every draft, with no hand-off to a different associate midway through.
- Your trust pairs with a pour-over will drafted by our wills lawyer, a durable power of attorney, a health care proxy, a HIPAA release, and a living will, so the full plan works as one structure.
- Same-week appointments and virtual consultations are available for clients across New York State, not just Lower Manhattan.
New York adds a few wrinkles that a generic trust template will not catch: Surrogate's Court filing practices, co-op board consent for real property, and a state estate tax threshold that changes the tax owed once an estate crosses it.
That local knowledge carries into every trust document, every deed transfer, and every conversation about how your plan holds up if your address, your health, or your family circumstances change.
Ready to Talk Through Your Options
You do not need a finished plan to start the conversation.
Bring what you have, who you want to protect, and your questions, and our attorney will walk you through your options in a free consultation.
You will leave that first call with a clear setup plan, a written fee quote, and a direct line to the attorney handling your case.
Book a call with us to get started.
FAQs: Revocable Living Trust New York
1. Does a revocable living trust really keep my estate out of probate?
A funded revocable trust holds title to the assets placed inside it, so those assets skip the probate process entirely. Assets left outside the trust still go through probate.
2. Can I still make changes after my trust is signed?
Yes. A revocable trust stays under your control for as long as you are alive and competent, with the right to update beneficiaries, change the successor trustee, or revoke the trust entirely.
3. Do I still need a will if I have a revocable living trust?
A pour-over will works alongside the trust and directs any assets titled outside the trust to pass into it at your death. It also names guardians and an executor for anything the trust does not already cover.
4. How long does it take to set up and fund a revocable living trust in New York?
A standard revocable trust often moves from first meeting to signed documents within a few weeks, with funding, including deed transfers and account retitling, following over the next several weeks.
5. How much does a revocable living trust cost in New York?
Estate Law New York uses a flat fee that you agree to in writing before drafting begins, so you know the full cost of your plan upfront rather than being billed by the hour. Your fee covers drafting, signing, and the funding work needed to retitle your assets into the trust.
6. What happens to the trust if I move out of New York?
Your revocable trust generally continues to work if you relocate, though it is worth having the document reviewed against your new state's requirements once you settle in.
7. Who should I choose as my successor trustee?
Many clients choose a spouse, an adult child, or a trusted family member, though a professional trustee is also worth considering for a larger or more complex estate.
8. Does a revocable living trust protect my assets from creditors?
Not on its own. Since you keep control of the trust during your lifetime, its assets generally remain reachable by creditors, unlike an irrevocable trust.
9. What is the real difference between a revocable and an irrevocable trust?
A revocable trust lets you keep control and change the terms whenever your life changes, while an irrevocable trust asks you to give up that control in exchange for Medicaid and estate tax planning benefits.
