Living Trust Attorneys in Westchester County, New York
A properly funded living trust can help your successor trustee manage assets during incapacity and transfer trust property outside probate. We help Westchester clients decide whether a trust fits their needs, prepare the documents, and understand the funding steps. Meet with us in Tarrytown by appointment or by video.
Milvidskiy Law Group P.C. drafts and funds living trusts from our Tarrytown office and by video and phone. We serve Westchester clients from our Tarrytown office. If you live elsewhere in New York State, see our Living Trusts in New York page for the statewide rules.
Key Takeaways:
- A properly funded revocable living trust generally lets a Westchester family settle an estate without filing in the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court or opening a second probate for a Connecticut or Florida home.
- Transferring a Westchester home to a revocable trust requires a deed recorded with the Westchester County Clerk, and the STAR school tax benefit continues for an owner who stays in the home as trust beneficiary.
- A revocable trust does not reduce New York estate tax, which for 2026 applies to estates above $7,350,000 and taxes the entire estate once it exceeds that amount by more than 5 percent.
- Westchester families who also want protection from long-term care costs need an irrevocable trust, not a revocable one.
Will or Trust? The Westchester Version of the Question
A will-based plan is simpler to set up, but assets in your sole name at death without a beneficiary designation generally pass through the Surrogate’s Court. In Westchester, the largest of those assets is often the house, and a home in one of Westchester’s higher-value communities can by itself be worth more than many entire estates elsewhere. A funded living trust is designed to move the house and the investment accounts outside probate, keep the values and the beneficiaries out of the public court file, and let a successor trustee sell or manage the house without waiting for letters testamentary.
The trust is also the cleaner answer when a Westchester resident owns a second home. A Connecticut cottage, a Florida condominium, or a Vermont ski house held in your own name normally requires probate in that state as well as New York. A single revocable trust holding all of the real estate can replace two or three probate proceedings with none. We help New York clients coordinate an estate plan with property and family interests in other states. When another state’s law or local work is involved, we identify the additional legal assistance needed.
Putting a Westchester Home Into a Trust
Real estate goes into a trust by deed. For property in Westchester County, the deed is recorded with the Westchester County Clerk in White Plains along with the required New York transfer tax filings. Before recording, we confirm that the mortgage lender does not object, that the owner’s title insurance policy will continue to protect the trustee, and that the local assessor will carry over property tax exemptions. New York’s STAR school tax relief continues where the homeowner conveys the home to a trust and keeps living in it as beneficiary, and senior citizen and veterans exemptions should be confirmed with the assessor of the city or town where the property sits. Co-op apartments, common in several Westchester cities and villages, generally require the co-op board’s consent to transfer shares to a trust, and boards vary in what they allow.
What Happens at Death With and Without a Trust
Without a trust, the executor named in the will petitions the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court to admit the will to probate. Every person who would inherit under New York’s intestacy statute must be notified and given the chance to object, and the court file, including the will and the inventory of assets, is open to the public. Timing for letters testamentary depends on the court and the facts, including whether all distributees sign waivers, and we will give you a realistic estimate. Only once letters issue can the executor sell the house or collect accounts.
With a funded trust, the successor trustee presents the trust agreement and a death certificate to the bank, brokerage, and title company and can generally proceed without a court order. The trustee still pays debts, files the final income tax returns, and files a New York estate tax return, currently due within nine months of death, if the estate exceeds the exclusion amount, but no Surrogate’s Court proceeding is needed for the trust assets. A short probate may still be required for assets left outside the trust, which is why, as a matter of practice, we pair the trust with a pour-over will and a written funding checklist.
The Estate Tax Question for Westchester Estates
A revocable living trust does not change your New York estate tax. For deaths in 2026 New York taxes estates above $7,350,000, and an estate that exceeds that figure by more than 5 percent loses the exclusion entirely and is taxed from the first dollar at rates up to 16 percent. Many Westchester households sit near this line once the house, retirement accounts, and life insurance are added together. What a well-drafted trust can do is build in the tools that reduce tax: a credit shelter trust that preserves the first spouse’s exclusion, a New York qualified terminable interest property election, and coordination with an irrevocable life insurance trust or a program of lifetime gifts. New York has no gift tax, but under current law gifts made within three years of death are added back to the estate for deaths before 2032, so a gifting plan should begin early.
Revocable Versus Irrevocable Trusts for Westchester Families
A revocable trust keeps you in full control but offers no protection from your own creditors or from the cost of long-term care, because New York law treats a trust you create for your own benefit as reachable by your creditors. Westchester families concerned about nursing home and home care costs often add an irrevocable Medicaid asset protection trust for the home and a portion of savings. The irrevocable trust can preserve the STAR benefit and the right to live in the house while starting the clock on Medicaid’s look-back rules. The two trusts do different jobs and frequently appear in the same plan. See Medicaid Planning in Westchester County and Medicaid Asset Protection Trust.
Incapacity: The Trustee, Not the Court
If a Westchester resident with a funded revocable trust loses capacity, the successor trustee steps in under the terms of the trust agreement to pay bills, manage investments, and maintain the house. Without a trust or a power of attorney, in most cases the family’s route is an Article 81 guardianship petition in the Westchester Supreme Court in White Plains, with a court evaluator, a hearing, and annual reporting. The trust should be paired with a New York statutory short form power of attorney that expressly authorizes the agent to transfer assets into the trust, and with a health care proxy for medical decisions. See Power of Attorney.
Choosing a Successor Trustee
Many families name an adult child as successor trustee, sometimes with a sibling as co-trustee or with a professional fiduciary for larger or more complex estates. The trust agreement should say how incapacity is determined, how a trustee is removed and replaced, and whether a beneficiary may serve as trustee of his or her own share. Where children live in different states, the trust can name a local trustee for the house and a distant child for the financial accounts. See Trustee Services for situations in which a family prefers an independent trustee.
Working With Us in Tarrytown
We begin with your deed, your account statements, and your goals, and we tell you plainly whether a trust adds enough value over a will-based plan for your situation. If it does, we draft the trust to New York’s signing requirements, coordinate signing with the required notarization and witnesses, prepare the Westchester deed, identify any local counsel needed for out-of-state property, and give you a funding plan for accounts and beneficiary designations. Existing trusts, including those drafted in other states, are reviewed for New York compliance and for the estate tax cliff.
We meet with clients at our Tarrytown office in Westchester County, by video conference, and by phone. To discuss a living trust with a Westchester trust attorney, please contact us to schedule a consultation.
Meet with our team at 120 White Plains Road, Suite 420, Tarrytown, NY 10591, by appointment. Video and phone meetings are also available.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change and figures are adjusted periodically. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a living trust worth it for a typical Westchester homeowner?
Often, yes, because the house is usually the largest asset and the one that is hardest to deal with during probate. A funded trust generally lets the successor trustee list, maintain, and sell the home without waiting for the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court to issue letters. Families with modest estates made up mainly of retirement accounts and joint property may do fine with a will alone.
How do I move my Westchester house into a trust?
By a deed from you to yourself as trustee, signed and acknowledged before a notary and recorded with the Westchester County Clerk in White Plains together with the required New York transfer tax filings. Before recording, we check the mortgage, confirm that your title insurance will continue to cover the trustee, and notify your city or town assessor so that exemptions carry over.
Will my property taxes go up if I put my home in a trust?
A transfer to your own revocable trust is not a sale and generally does not by itself trigger a reassessment. Your STAR benefit continues because New York treats a trust beneficiary who still lives in the home as the owner. Senior citizen, veterans, and other local exemptions should be confirmed with your assessor after the deed is recorded, because each Westchester city and town administers its own roll.
We also own a house in Connecticut. Can one trust hold both properties?
Yes. A single New York revocable trust can hold the Westchester home and a Connecticut or Florida property, and a deed is recorded in each state. That can avoid a separate probate in the second state. We help New York clients coordinate an estate plan with property and family interests in other states. When another state’s law or local work is involved, we identify the additional legal assistance needed.
What does the successor trustee do when a Westchester resident dies?
The trustee obtains death certificates, notifies the banks and brokerage firms, takes over management of the house, pays debts and final expenses, files the final income tax returns and, if the estate exceeds the New York exclusion, an estate tax return due nine months after death, and then distributes according to the trust. In general, none of this requires a filing in the Surrogate’s Court for trust assets.
Can my Westchester co-op be held in a living trust?
Only with the cooperative board’s approval. Many Westchester boards permit transfers to a revocable trust if the shareholder remains the trustee and occupant and signs an agreement remaining responsible for maintenance, but some refuse. We contact the managing agent before the trust is signed so that the plan accounts for the building’s policy.
Does a living trust protect my home if I need nursing home care in Westchester?
A revocable trust does not. Medicaid generally treats assets in a trust you can revoke as your own, and New York law lets your creditors reach a trust created for your own benefit. Protection requires an irrevocable Medicaid asset protection trust, which can be added alongside the revocable trust. See our Medicaid Planning in Westchester County page.
I have a revocable trust drafted when I lived in New Jersey. Does it work now that I live in Westchester?
Generally the trust remains valid, but it should be reviewed for New York’s signing rules, New York’s presumption that a trust is irrevocable unless it says otherwise, the New York estate tax cliff, and New York Medicaid rules. Your Westchester home must be deeded to the trustee and recorded with the Westchester County Clerk, or it will generally still pass through the Surrogate’s Court.
Can a Westchester resident sign a trust remotely?
New York requires the trust to be acknowledged before a notary or signed in front of two witnesses, so many clients sign at our Tarrytown office, where we supply the notary and witnesses. Planning meetings and draft reviews can be handled by video or phone.
Do I still need a will if I have a Westchester living trust?
A living trust does not replace your will. A will can nominate a guardian for minor children and direct probate assets into your trust through a pour-over provision. A separate standby guardian designation may address qualifying situations during your lifetime.
