Working With Your Financial and Tax Advisors

Estate plans hold together when your attorney coordinates the legal work with the financial advisor, banker, and CPA you already use. This page explains how Schwartsman Law Group PLLC handles the New York legal aspects of that coordination — and what we do not do.

To talk through your situation, call (212) 518-3868 or request a Free Consultation.

Independent advisors, not the law firm

Schwartsman Law Group PLLC provides New York legal services only. It does not give investment advice, does not manage investments, does not provide banking services, and does not prepare income or estate tax returns. Investment advice, banking, and tax-return preparation are provided independently by the professionals you select and do not, by themselves, create an attorney-client relationship with Schwartsman Law Group. We coordinate the legal aspects of your estate plan with those advisors when you ask us to; we do not sell their services or steer you to any particular firm.

Trust funding and titling

A signed trust does little until assets are titled or assigned as the plan requires. We prepare the legal documents and a funding checklist that spells out which accounts, real estate, and other property should move into the trust or be retitled. Your financial advisor and banker typically handle account retitling, new account paperwork, and custodian forms. For real estate, we prepare deeds and related instruments for recording in the county where the property sits. Clear roles reduce the risk that accounts stay in individual names after a trust is signed — one of the most common trust funding mistakes.

Beneficiary designations

Retirement accounts, life insurance, and many bank or brokerage accounts pass by beneficiary designation (including transfer-on-death and payable-on-death designations), not by the will alone. We review how those designations fit the overall plan — especially when a trust is named as beneficiary. Your financial advisor, banker, or plan administrator usually submits the change-of-beneficiary forms to the custodian, bank, or insurer. Mismatched designations are a common source of unintended results. Read more on beneficiary designations versus trusts.

Estate tax planning at a high level

New York imposes its own estate tax, separate from federal estate and gift tax. For dates of death on or after January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026, New York's basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000 (NY Department of Taxation and Finance). Estates in a narrow band above that exclusion face a steep phase-out often called the "cliff." At 105% of the exclusion — $7,717,500 — the New York basic exclusion is fully phased out. Planning may involve lifetime gifts, trust design, or how title and beneficiary forms interact with the taxable estate — always as legal planning, not as tax-return preparation. Your CPA advises on tax filings and numbers; we design New York-focused legal structures. For current figures see NY Numbers, our estate and gift taxes page, and the New York estate tax cliff guide.

Official sources: New York Department of Taxation and Finance — estate tax; IRS — estate tax overview.

How coordination usually works

1. You authorize us in writing to speak with named advisors.
2. We share the relevant legal plan outline (trusts, titling goals, beneficiary approach) — not a substitute for their own advice.
3. Your advisors execute account and product changes in their systems.
4. We confirm deeds, assignments, and other legal steps are complete and consistent with the documents you signed.

Call (212) 518-3868 or request a Free Consultation. Schwartsman Law Group PLLC, (212) 518-3868.