Estate Planning, Administration, and Litigation

Cooper Levenson works with estates of all sizes throughout New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Nevada, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Alabama, Massachusetts, Georgia and the District of Columbia. From the individual needing to write a new will to business owners requiring succession planning assistance, we have the experience our clients seek. Plus, our fees are comparable to those of a small firm, and our clients appreciate our cost-effective services.

Estate planning involves preparation for the orderly transfer of wealth from one generation to the next. It also identifies estate, inheritance and gift tax issues. The planning process includes:

Determining the extent of your assets
Determining to whom you wish to leave your assets
Preparing documents to pass assets to your intended beneficiaries in the most practical and tax efficient manner

Using a variety of tools to accomplish your goals

Through estate planning, you may create trusts and other vehicles to protect your wealth against many risks, including youth and inexperience, overindulgence, old age and infirmity, divorce and remarriage, family disputes, business events, inflation, recession and taxation.

Our estate planning attorneys craft:

Last will and testaments
Trusts, including special needs trusts
Living trusts
Business succession plans
Powers of attorney
Living wills/advance health care directives

updating existing estate plans

If you have an existing estate plan, there are several reasons why you should consider an update:

Your personal circumstances may have changed. The changes may be as simple as beneficiaries growing up, or may be more complex such as the birth of a child, the death of a family member, a marriage or a divorce.
Your assets may have changed, requiring changes to pass a larger portion of your wealth to your heirs instead of the government.
Changes in estate, gift and inheritance tax laws.

Cooper Levenson’s estate planning department also regularly administers estates and trusts. Our lawyers also collaborate with our estate and probate litigation attorneys to resolve disputes that may arise over the disposition of estates and trust funds.

probate litigation

Click here to read about our attorneys and their expertise in representing heirs, trustees, executors and family members in estate and probate disputes. See also Estate Litigation and Estate, Inheritance, and Gift Taxes.