A legacy trust, also known as a dynasty trust, is an irrevocable structure designed to protect and transfer family wealth across multiple generations. When properly established and managed, it can significantly reduce long-term estate and generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes, while potentially shielding assets from creditors, lawsuits, divorce proceedings, and financial missteps by beneficiaries.
It is important to understand that a legacy trust is not a one-time setup but a long-term commitment requiring the right assets, a capable trustee, and accurate projections regarding taxes and costs. For families in New York and New Jersey, critical factors such as the trust’s duration, governing state laws, and built-in flexibility can determine the success or failure of the entire estate plan.
What You Should Know Before Getting Started
Legacy trusts can work beautifully for the right families. But they can also become expensive documents that never deliver what was promised—usually because something went wrong in the implementation. Before you dive into the details, here are three realities that shape nearly every successful multigenerational trust plan.
You need to genuinely let go of control. The strongest tax advantages and asset protection come from making an irrevocable transfer. That means you generally can't take those assets back. If you're thinking, "I want the protection, but I might need that money someday," that's completely fair—it just means a legacy trust might not be the right tool right now, or you might want to start smaller.
Your trustee choice isn't a detail—it's the whole plan. A legacy trust can last decades, even centuries depending on the state. During that time, beneficiaries will change, markets will fluctuate, and family dynamics will evolve. The trustee is the person keeping everything on track: fulfilling fiduciary duties, filing tax returns, making smart decisions, and communicating with beneficiaries in ways that prevent resentment from turning into lawsuits.
The "best" legacy trust is one that actually works for your life. That means having a real funding strategy mapped out asset by asset, clear projections for taxes and ongoing costs, and a thoughtful decision about trust situs (which state's law governs the trust). For NY and NJ families, questions like "How long can this trust really last?" and "What if we need to modify it later?" aren't just academic—they determine whether your plan holds up 20 years from now.
Is a Legacy Trust the Right Fit for You?
If your estate planning goals go beyond simply avoiding probate or keeping things straightforward, a legacy trust deserves a closer look. Done well, it can shift future growth out of your taxable estate, provide disciplined asset management for heirs, and build meaningful protection against creditors, ex-spouses, and lawsuits. The degree of protection depends on state law, how the trust is structured, and when assets were transferred—but the potential is real.
Expert Insight
I've seen many people surprised by just how much a legacy trust can accomplish for families looking to safeguard their wealth. There's a common pattern: folks come in worried about taxes and lawsuits, but what really stands out to them are the long-term benefits—like multi-generational protection and the ability to set meaningful guidelines for future heirs. These aren't just financial tools; they're vehicles for passing on both assets and values, which can be a powerful motivator to get the planning right.
In both New York and New Jersey, the landscape for these trusts changes fast—state laws, tax exemptions, and even the duration of protection can differ in significant ways. One thing that's become clear to me is that personalized planning truly makes or breaks the outcome, especially when families are navigating complex assets or want to balance control with protection. At NY Wills & Estates, we're constantly working to navigate these variables so clients can move ahead with confidence and clarity, knowing their legacy is genuinely secured.
Families who benefit most usually share one clear priority: protecting and organizing wealth for future generations beyond their own lifetime. They also understand the trade-off—getting the strongest results typically means transferring assets irrevocably.
Here's a simple readiness test: before you sign anything, you should be able to answer, in writing, what you're funding (and how), who will administer the trust for decades, and why the tax and protection benefits are expected to outweigh the long-term complexity and costs. If those answers aren't clear yet, you're not quite ready—and that's okay.
This is exactly where specialized counsel adds the most value. The benefits of a legacy trust are less about having an impressive document and more about building an operating system your family can actually live with over time.
What to Think Through Before Transferring Assets
A legacy trust is essentially a trade: you give up meaningful flexibility and control now in exchange for long-term protection, continuity, and tax efficiency later. That trade can be powerful—but it can also become frustrating if the trust turns out to be expensive, rigid, or difficult for future trustees and beneficiaries to manage.
The pressure points tend to be predictable, so it's worth evaluating them before you transfer anything.
Family governance matters more than people expect. A legacy trust doesn't just move assets—it creates a decision-making structure. Who gets to decide about distributions? Who resolves conflicts among family members? Who can remove a trustee? If your family already struggles with money boundaries or communication, the trust needs clear rules and realistic enforcement mechanisms.
Control is often the hardest part for the grantor. The tax and asset-protection benefits generally require giving up real control. If you retain too much "owner-like" power, the IRS and courts may treat those trust assets as still being yours—defeating the entire purpose.
Liquidity can become an issue down the road. Lock up assets too tightly and you might create cash-flow problems for heirs (or even for yourself), depending on what you transfer and how distributions are structured.
Trust administration is an ongoing commitment. Trusts require constant attention—tax filings, recordkeeping, investment decisions, distributions, and beneficiary communications. A multigenerational trust isn't a one-and-done project.
Costs extend well beyond legal fees. Trustee fees, accounting, investment management, valuations, and reporting can add up significantly over time.
Jurisdiction shapes everything else. The state whose law governs your trust affects how long it can last, what tools exist to update it, and which courts get involved if there's ever a dispute.
Legacy trusts tend to work well when you have significant assets worth protecting across generations—a business, a real estate portfolio, concentrated investments—when protection from creditors, divorce, or poor financial decisions is a top priority, or when long-term estate and GST tax planning is central to your strategy. They're usually a poor fit if you might need to reclaim those assets, if you want maximum flexibility, or if you're not prepared for the ongoing administration the trust will require.
So What Exactly Is a Legacy Trust?
At its core, a legacy trust is an irrevocable trust designed to hold assets for multiple generations. Depending on which state governs it, the trust might last for decades or, in some places, for centuries. The goal is practical: preserve family wealth, minimize transfer-tax friction, and add meaningful protection around inheritances for loved ones.
Most of the benefits—and most of the risks—come down to three key concepts.
Irrevocable ownership transfer means assets must be legally moved into the trust, and the grantor generally can't take them back. That's what makes the protection real.
Situs (the trust's legal home) affects duration, enforcement rules, trustee powers, and your long-term flexibility to make changes.
GST planning uses the federal Generation-Skipping Transfer tax exemption so assets can potentially avoid additional transfer tax at each generational level—assuming allocations and compliance are handled correctly.
If you're comparing options, legacy trusts are one tool within broader trust planning. Many families benefit from combining multiple structures—perhaps a revocable living trust for everyday lifetime management plus an irrevocable trust for a specific long-term goal.
A Checklist for Setting Up a NY or NJ Legacy Trust
Because a funded legacy trust is difficult (and sometimes impossible) to unwind cleanly, this checklist works as a safeguard against expensive mistakes. Think of it as converting a complex decision into five practical checkpoints.
Getting the Control Balance Right
To maximize estate-tax and asset-protection results, the grantor typically needs to give up meaningful control. Powers like the ability to revoke the trust, treat trust assets as personal property, or control distributions for your own benefit can create serious problems. Keep too much "owner-like" control, and the IRS and courts may treat those assets as still being yours—defeating the whole purpose.
That said, many well-designed legacy trusts still allow limited, carefully drafted influence that preserves guardrails without undermining the structure. You might be able to replace a trustee within defined limitations, appoint a trust protector to approve certain changes, or use limited powers of appointment to adjust beneficiaries within a permitted class.
The line between smart guardrails and too much retained control is exactly where skilled legal drafting matters most. Ask your attorney for a plain-English, one-page summary showing what powers you're giving up, what you're keeping, and why those retained powers won't create tax problems or weaken creditor protection.
Understanding How State Rules Affect Duration
Duration is one of the biggest differences between New York and New Jersey dynasty-style planning—and a key reason private wealth families sometimes choose one state over the other.
New York's rule against perpetuities is complex and fact-dependent. Under EPTL § 9-1.1[2], the permissible duration in many private trust designs is measured by "lives in being at the time the trust becomes irrevocable, plus 21 years"—often translating to roughly a century in practical terms. But the true limit depends on the specific trust language, the measuring lives chosen, and the applicable statutory framework.
New Jersey allows much longer trusts. Under New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. § 3B:31-6), many noncharitable trusts can be drafted to last up to 360 years when properly structured. That extended runway can be attractive for multigenerational planning—assuming the family has the governance and administration to match.
Situs affects more than just the calendar, though. It also shapes enforcement rules, day-to-day administration, trustee powers, and tools for lawful modernization like decanting. Before you fund anything, ask your attorney to identify realistic scenarios that could shorten your trust's life or require changes—then document the contingency plan.
Creating Your Funding Strategy
Here's something that surprises many families: most "legacy trust failures" aren't actually drafting failures—they're funding failures. Complex assets require specific transfer steps, and each category has its own friction points.
The key rule: if an asset isn't properly retitled or assigned, it isn't protected the way you think it is.
Your funding plan should read like a project plan, not a wish list. Every transfer needs an owner, a timeline, and written proof of completion.
Selecting and Setting Up Your Trustee
The trustee is the person or institution that turns your document into real-life outcomes. For a multigenerational trust, the best choice is rarely based on emotion—it's based on continuity, competence, judgment, communication skills, and the ability to handle tax reporting and administration without turning the trust into a constant emergency.
When you're evaluating candidates, look for experience administering long-term trusts (especially those holding businesses or real estate), transparent fee schedules and billing practices, strong recordkeeping and tax-reporting systems, clear beneficiary-communication processes, and a workable succession plan if the trustee steps down or no longer fits.
Families often weigh a trusted individual against a corporate trustee or trust company. Well-known institutions offering trust services include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America (U.S. Trust), Wells Fargo, Northern Trust, PNC, and U.S. Bank—though availability, minimum account sizes, and fit vary by region and asset level. The right choice depends less on brand name and more on the specific team, reporting quality, fee structure, and experience with your particular assets.
Reviewing Taxes and Costs
A legacy trust can create substantial tax and protection value, but fees and complexity can erode those benefits—especially if the trust is underfunded or holds hard-to-administer assets. A careful review should cover federal estate tax and GST considerations, state-level realities (NY estate tax, NJ inheritance tax), and potential future law changes.
Stress-test your decision by modeling at least three scenarios: a baseline using current-law assumptions with reasonable return projections; a stress test with lower returns, higher fees, unexpected liquidity needs, or family conflict; and a tax-law change scenario assuming reduced exemptions or other changes that alter the math. If the plan only works in a perfect world, it probably isn't strong enough.
New York vs. New Jersey: Key Differences
It's tempting to assume NY and NJ trust law is basically interchangeable since they're neighbors. In practice, the two states can produce very different long-term outcomes—especially around duration, enforcement, and administrative flexibility.
New York generally means tighter duration constraints for dynasty trust planning and a more traditional framework. New Jersey tends to be more dynasty-trust-friendly on duration and includes modern administration tools (including decanting statutes) when properly drafted and administered.
But longer isn't automatically better. A 360-year trust only helps if your trustee selection, reporting systems, distribution standards, and family governance are strong enough to support it. And no state is frozen in time—court decisions, legislative changes, and evolving administrative practices can shift how rules are interpreted.
For serious decisions, ask your attorney for a short, plain-English risk memo that cites key statutes, flags known uncertainties, and explains what tools your trust includes to adapt—like trust-protector powers, decanting authority, or practical steps for changing situs if needed.
Making Sense of Estate and GST Taxes
Taxes often drive families toward legacy trusts, but confusion runs deep—especially around federal exemptions, state estate taxes, and GST planning. Here's a clearer picture.
Federal estate tax only kicks in above the exemption: $13.61 million per individual in 2024. Married couples may effectively combine exemptions through portability, but this requires a timely filed estate tax return (Form 706) when the first spouse dies—even if no tax is owed. The top federal rate is 40%. Importantly, the current elevated exemption is scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025, after which it would drop to roughly half the current amount (approximately $6–7 million per person, adjusted for inflation) unless Congress acts. This looming reduction is a major driver of accelerated gift and trust planning for many families.
Federal GST tax is a separate transfer tax targeting transfers to "skip persons" (generally grandchildren and more remote descendants). The GST exemption tracks the federal estate and gift exemption. When properly allocated via a timely filed IRS Form 709 for lifetime transfers, a trust can be structured to be GST-exempt going forward—but improper or late allocation can result in significant tax liability.
New York estate tax has its own set of rules with a $6.94 million exemption in 2024. New York is notorious for its "cliff": if your taxable estate exceeds the exemption by more than roughly 5%, you lose the entire exemption—dramatically increasing tax liability.
New Jersey eliminated its state estate tax for deaths after 2017. However, New Jersey has an inheritance tax that can apply to beneficiaries who aren't close family members. Class "A" beneficiaries (spouses, civil union partners, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren) are exempt. Other classes may face rates commonly ranging from 11% to 16%, depending on their relationship to the decedent and the amount inherited.
If taxes are driving your planning—especially with the scheduled exemption sunset after 2025—getting a coordinated plan matters more than having isolated documents. That means aligning legal structure with projections from your CPA and your broader estate tax planning strategy so trust language, gift reporting, and long-term administration all point toward the same goal.
The Steps to Creating and Funding Your Trust
Establishing a legacy trust typically unfolds in four phases. The hard part often isn't the drafting—it's the pre-funding work and funding execution.
Phase 1: Design and drafting. This is where you define beneficiaries, distribution standards, trustee powers, creditor-protection provisions, tax planning strategy, and trust situs. Expect this to take a few weeks, depending on complexity and how quickly decisions are made.
Phase 2: Pre-funding review. This involves coordinating tax modeling, confirming what you'll transfer, gathering documentation, obtaining required consents, and addressing valuations (especially for closely held businesses). This often takes several weeks—valuations, partner approvals, and lender questions can extend the timeline.
Phase 3: Funding execution. Now you complete all transfers: deeds, assignments, retitling, insurance changes. You'll collect written confirmation from institutions and professionals. Allow several weeks to a few months, depending on banks, recording offices, and third parties.
Phase 4: Post-funding confirmation. Audit that every asset moved correctly, update insurance and payment systems, and establish calendars for tax filings, accounting, and reporting.
Expect real-world friction. Banks and custodians have their own procedures; lenders may need to review mortgaged property; business partners may need to formally consent. Building buffer time into your funding schedule isn't pessimism—it's good financial planning.
To prevent the "everyone thought someone else handled it" problem, assign roles early. Your estate planning attorney typically coordinates the legal structure; your CPA models transfer taxes and handles gift/GST reporting; your financial advisors and custodians manage account retitling; business counsel helps with entity consents; and the trustee confirms onboarding requirements.
Making Sure Your Trust Is Actually Funded
A clean funding closeout includes a simple sign-off package—kept with your estate plan—showing the trust is properly implemented, not just signed. This typically includes recorded deeds, assignment documents, custodian confirmation letters or updated statements showing trust ownership, insurance-carrier confirmations, and a final funding checklist marked complete with dates and responsible parties.
What to Bring to Your First Funding Meeting
Preparation saves time and legal fees. Here's what to assemble before your first meeting:
- Personal basics: Photo ID, current addresses, marital-status documents (marriage/divorce certificates if applicable)
- Real estate: Deeds, recent mortgage statements, lender contact information, title reports, property tax bills, and insurance policies
- Businesses: Operating/shareholder agreements, stock ledgers or cap tables, buy-sell agreements, recent financials, and any transfer restrictions
- Investment accounts: Latest statements, custodian contacts, account titles and numbers
- Life insurance: Policy statements, carrier contact information, current owner/beneficiary details, and in-force illustrations
- Existing estate plans: Current/prior trusts and wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, and any prenup/postnup agreements
- Professional contacts: CPA, financial advisor, insurance professional, and banker/lender information
Also plan for a quick "signature and approvals" reality check. Depending on your assets, you may need signatures or written approvals from spouses, business partners, lenders, or insurance carriers. Some institutions require originals or certified copies. If something must be notarized, confirm in advance so you bring the right identification.
Your goal leaving the meeting: a written funding checklist with clear task owners, deadlines, and the proof required to confirm each transfer is complete.
Choosing the Right Trustee
Trustee selection is one of the most consequential decisions in multigenerational planning. A structured process makes it easier to choose confidently—and to explain your choice to family later.
Interview candidates carefully. Ask how they evaluate distribution requests, handle conflict, document decisions, and develop investment strategies for long time horizons. Create a scorecard rating continuity, technical competence, transparency, responsiveness, neutrality, and reporting rigor. Request sample reports, fee schedules, service agreements, and references. For corporate trustees, confirm the trust department's experience with your specific asset types.
Once you've made your selection, treat trustee onboarding like a launch process, not a handoff. Your onboarding checklist should cover receiving and accepting formal fiduciary authority, setting up secure recordkeeping, confirming tax-reporting responsibilities (including K-1s and gift/GST filing coordination), creating a distribution-request process, establishing a reporting cadence, and building a first-year administration budget.
Maintain accountability through simple, repeatable practices: annual reviews of fees and performance, periodic budget-to-actual comparisons, documented distribution decisions, and a consistent beneficiary-communication plan. Whatever you choose—individual, corporate, or a combination—make sure the trust includes clear resignation and removal mechanics and a workable succession plan.
Understanding Trust Costs and Whether They're Worth It
Costs vary significantly based on complexity, asset types, and whether you use professional trustees. Think about them in three layers.
One-time costs include legal drafting (typically $5,000–$15,000 or more for complex legacy trusts, depending on jurisdiction and complexity), entity or business valuations when needed, deed preparation and recording, and initial tax planning coordination.
Ongoing costs include trustee fees (corporate trustees often charge 0.5%–1.5% of assets annually, sometimes with minimum annual fees of $5,000–$15,000 or more), annual tax filings and accounting, investment management fees, periodic appraisals, and administrative overhead.
Hidden costs include delays, disputes, poor reporting, compliance missteps, or administration that becomes inefficient over time.
When families ask, "Is this worth it?" the best answer is a modeled comparison between projected costs and projected benefits (tax savings, asset-protection value, better long-term wealth management). For some families, break-even can take a decade or more—so do the math rather than relying on rules of thumb.
For a decision-ready model, ask your advisors to present projected costs and savings over 10, 25, and 50 years; the estimated "payback" period when benefits exceed costs; and a sensitivity summary showing what happens if returns are lower or fees higher. Fee transparency isn't rude—it's essential. Get clear billing rules in writing, including what qualifies as "extraordinary" work and whether investment management is separate from trustee fees.
How Legacy Trusts Stack Up Against Other Options
Families typically choose a revocable living trust when probate avoidance, smoother incapacity management, and lifetime flexibility are the main goals. Legacy trusts make sense when the priority is multigenerational protection and long-range transfer-tax planning for the next generation and beyond. Other irrevocable trusts work best for narrower targets—life insurance planning, specific gifting strategies, or protecting a beneficiary with special needs or other circumstances. Charitable or purpose-driven trusts fit when charitable giving, a mission, or specialized protection rules are central.
It's also worth separating dynasty-style planning from planning focused on long-term care costs. Some families exploring irrevocable trusts are actually trying to reduce nursing home exposure or preserve assets for a spouse. Those goals can overlap with legacy trust goals, but they're not identical. In those cases, focused Medicaid planning—which must account for the five-year lookback period and other eligibility rules—may be more direct and cost-effective.
Making Complex Asset Transfers Work
Complex assets are where otherwise solid legacy trusts can fail in practice. Treat funding like an audit process—not a paperwork exercise—and build in checkpoints that catch errors early.
Real estate requires obtaining a current title snapshot, preparing and recording the deed into the trust, coordinating with the lender if there's a mortgage (addressing due-on-sale concerns), updating property insurance to reflect trust ownership, and ensuring taxes and expenses are paid correctly going forward. Add a post-recording check to confirm the county recording is complete and the vesting reads exactly as intended.
Businesses require reviewing transfer restrictions, obtaining consents, coordinating valuations where needed, executing assignments, and updating internal records (cap tables, ledgers) and governance documents. If a buy-sell or operating agreement needs amendments to reflect the trust as owner, address that before the transfer. For S corporations, confirm with counsel and your CPA that the proposed trust qualifies as an eligible shareholder—only certain trust types (such as grantor trusts, qualified subchapter S trusts, and electing small business trusts) may hold S corporation stock without jeopardizing the corporation's S election.
Life insurance requires submitting ownership and beneficiary change forms, getting written carrier confirmation, and verifying on later statements that changes were processed correctly. Many families place insurance in its own irrevocable trust structure (often called an ILIT). Whether integrated into broader legacy planning or kept separate, the paperwork and confirmation steps are where errors commonly occur.
For any complex transfer, insist on written confirmations. Small titling errors can undermine tax results and asset protection.
Turning Your Concerns Into Action Items
Feeling uneasy about an irrevocable, multigenerational structure is perfectly normal. The best way forward is translating each concern into something concrete your advisors must produce—so you're not relying on assumptions.
Concerned about giving up control? Ask for a side-by-side summary of what you give up versus what you keep, plus real examples of how decisions would work after funding.
Concerned about costs? Request multi-year projections (not just estimates) with all trustee, investment, and accounting fee schedules attached—including rules for extraordinary fees.
Nervous about funding complexity? Require an asset-by-asset checklist with names, deadlines, and proof-of-transfer requirements, plus a final confirmation package once funding is complete.
Uncertain about state-law risks? Ask for a short memo explaining duration, flexibility tools (like decanting or trust-modification approaches), and how situs affects enforcement and administration.
Questioning trustee capability? Obtain sample reports, references, a clear removal/succession plan, and transparent billing practices.
Worried about tax risk? Request a written tax strategy, including how GST exemption will be allocated and which mistakes would be most damaging.
Running a Planning Meeting That Actually Works
One of the fastest ways to reduce confusion is holding a structured meeting where key advisors align on decisions and the funding plan before you commit to irreversible transfers.
Who to include: your estate planning attorney, tax advisor/CPA, trustee candidate(s) or trust officer, financial advisor, insurance professional (if life insurance is part of funding), and banker/lender or business counsel/partners (if consents are needed).
Three things to verify during the meeting: First, confirm what makes the trust irrevocable and exactly which powers (if any) you retain. Second, finalize situs, expected duration, and the documented plan for handling duration/enforcement risks and future changes. Third, approve the funding checklist, assign task owners, and set deadlines so every asset has an accountable person and proof-of-transfer standard.
Documents to collect at or immediately after the meeting: a plain-English control summary (what you give up vs. keep), a short situs/duration risk memo with key citations, modeled tax scenarios with a written GST allocation plan, trustee resumes/references with sample reports and fee schedules, and a signed preliminary funding checklist showing owners, deadlines, and required consents.
The target outcome: clear next actions, named owners, and a realistic timeline—without loose ends.
Common Questions About Legacy Trusts
How long can a legacy trust last in New York?
New York's duration limits depend on the trust's structure and New York's statutory rule against perpetuities (EPTL § 9-1.1). Many private trust designs are limited by a "lives in being plus 21 years" framework, which planners often translate into approximately a century—but the true duration depends on specific trust language, the measuring lives chosen, and other drafting details. Ask your attorney for the key statutory citations, a plain-English explanation of how duration applies to your specific draft, and examples of conditions that could shorten the trust's life.
Can I change a funded legacy trust in New Jersey?
Generally not in any simple way. "Irrevocable" typically means you cannot unilaterally revoke or reclaim transferred assets. Some modifications may be possible through beneficiary consent, court-approved modification, or statutory techniques like decanting (New Jersey has a decanting statute under N.J.S.A. § 3B:31-47[9] and related provisions). Ask for a written outline of which parties would need to consent, what procedural steps are involved, likely costs, potential tax consequences, and your attorney's practical assessment of success likelihood.
Who handles documentation during funding?
In a well-run process, responsibility is assigned asset by asset. Ask for a written responsibility matrix showing each asset, transfer steps, who's accountable, and what proof confirms completion (recorded deed, custodian letter, updated statement, carrier confirmation). The matrix should also identify escalation contacts so transfers don't quietly stall.
How do I allocate GST exemption?
GST exemption allocation is typically made on a timely filed IRS Form 709 for lifetime transfers, with the exemption specifically allocated to the trust. Timing, valuation, and proper reporting all matter—late or incorrect allocation can result in significant tax consequences. Have your tax advisor model at least two approaches—allocation at funding (which locks in the current value) versus a delayed strategy (which may preserve exemption if assets decline but risks higher values later)—showing the tradeoffs and valuation sensitivity. Then get written instructions matching the legal funding steps and filing calendar.
Should I choose a corporate or family trustee?
Use a scorecard focusing on continuity, neutrality, technical skill, reporting quality, responsiveness, and fee transparency. Corporate trustees offer continuity and systems; family or individual trustees offer personal knowledge and flexibility but may create conflict or burnout over time. Request sample annual budgets, reporting examples, references, dispute-resolution policies, and clear succession planning. Choose based on demonstrated fit for a long-term job—not just comfort in the moment.
The Bottom Line
If you're considering a legacy trust, the next practical step is usually a consultation that answers three questions clearly: whether an irrevocable, multigenerational trust truly fits your goals; whether New York or New Jersey situs makes sense for your situation; and what it would take to fund and administer the trust correctly over time.
NY Wills & Estates is a focused estate planning law firm licensed in both New York and New Jersey, serving families across the metro area with offices in Manhattan (450 7th Avenue) and Hackensack (15 Warren Street). The firm handles the full spectrum of planning—from foundational wills and guardianship designations to complex trust structures, tax strategy, and long-term care planning.
Call NY Wills & Estates today at 516-518-8586 to discuss your specific estate planning needs and goals with a specialized attorney, get clear answers about which documents and strategies fit your situation, understand the legal requirements specific to New York or New Jersey, and receive a personalized plan of action with transparent guidance on next steps.
Understanding legacy trusts is a crucial step in protecting your family’s wealth across generations, and NY Wills & Estates offers focused, personalized estate planning expertise tailored to New York and New Jersey families. Schedule a consultation to build a clear, comprehensive plan that secures your legacy and simplifies complex legal decisions.