New York Trusts, Wills & Estate Planning: Your Questions Answered for 2026

Most New Yorkers don’t lie awake worrying about the fine points of the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law. They worry about real things: Will my family fight over the house? Will the State take half? Will my disabled child lose their benefits? Do my kids have to go through some long court process? Those are the questions that bring people to our door — and they are the questions this page is built to answer.

At Morgan Legal Group, attorney Russel Morgan, Esq. and our team help families across the entire state — New York City, Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Upstate — turn those worries into a clear plan. Below, we answer the concerns we hear most often, framed the way real New Yorkers actually ask them.

“What is a trust, and why would I want one?”

A trust is a legal arrangement, governed by New York EPTL Article 7, in which you (the grantor) transfer assets to a trustee to hold for your beneficiaries under rules you set. People come to a trust for three practical reasons:

• To skip the court line. Assets in a properly funded trust pass to your family without probate in the Surrogate’s Court.
• For privacy. A will becomes a public court record once it’s probated. A trust stays private.
• For control. A trust can manage your affairs if you become incapacitated, and can dole out inheritances over time instead of all at once.

Learn more on our Trusts Overview page.

“Revocable or irrevocable — which one do I need?”

This is the single most common question we field, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you’re trying to protect. Here’s the plain-English comparison.

Feature	Revocable Living Trust	Irrevocable Trust
Can you change or cancel it?	Yes — amend or revoke anytime	Generally no, once funded
Avoids probate?	Yes	Yes
Keeps your affairs private?	Yes	Yes
Manages incapacity?	Yes	Yes
Reduces NY estate tax?	No — assets stay in your taxable estate	Yes — assets are moved out of your estate
Protects assets from creditors / nursing home?	No	Yes
Helps with Medicaid?	No	Yes — subject to the 5-year look-back

A revocable living trust is the right tool for most families whose main goals are avoiding probate and planning for incapacity while keeping full control. It does not save estate tax, because the law still counts those assets as yours.

An irrevocable trust is the heavier instrument. You give up the right to freely amend it, and in exchange you get estate-tax reduction, creditor protection, and — critically for many New York families — Medicaid eligibility planning. Just remember the five-year look-back: transfers into the trust must generally be made well before nursing-home care is needed.

“I have a child with special needs — won’t an inheritance disqualify them?”

It can — and that’s exactly the trap a Special Needs Trust is designed to avoid. Under EPTL 7-1.12, a supplemental (special) needs trust lets you leave assets for a disabled loved one without knocking them off means-tested programs like Medicaid and SSI. The trust supplements their benefits — covering therapies, equipment, travel, and quality-of-life expenses — rather than replacing them. Leaving money to such a child outright, by contrast, often does more harm than good.

“Do I still need a will if I have a trust?”

Yes — and understanding the difference matters.

• A will is a public document that must be probated in the Surrogate’s Court before assets can be distributed.
• A trust avoids probate and stays private.

Even with a trust, a well-drafted will (often a “pour-over” will) catches any stray assets and names guardians for minor children. The two work together. See our Trust vs. Will page for a deeper comparison.

“Will New York tax my estate?”

Possibly — and New York has a notorious trap most people have never heard of. For 2026, the New York basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000. Estates under that figure generally owe no New York estate tax.

But watch the “cliff.” If your taxable estate exceeds 105% of the exclusion — $7,717,500 in 2026 — you don’t just lose the exemption on the overage. You lose the entire exemption, and the whole estate becomes taxable. Falling just over the cliff can cost a family hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is why estates approaching this line should plan deliberately, often using irrevocable trusts or lifetime gifting strategies.

2026 New York Estate Tax Figures	Amount
Basic exclusion amount	$7,350,000
“Cliff” threshold (105%)	$7,717,500
Effect of exceeding the cliff	Entire exemption lost — full estate taxable

“Who runs the trust, and can I trust the trustee?”

The trustee holds real legal power, which is why New York law holds them to strict fiduciary duties:

• Prudent-investor standard — under EPTL Article 11-A, the trustee must invest sensibly, balancing risk and return.
• Duty of loyalty — the trustee must act in the beneficiaries’ interest, not their own.
• Duty to account — the trustee must keep records and report to beneficiaries.

Trustees are entitled to commissions under the statutory schedules set out in the SCPA and EPTL. Choosing the right trustee — and drafting clear instructions — is one of the most important decisions in any plan. Our Trust Administration team guides trustees through these obligations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does a revocable living trust lower my estate tax?
A: No. Because you keep the power to amend or revoke it, New York still counts those assets in your taxable estate. To reduce estate tax, you generally need an irrevocable trust.

Q: What is the Medicaid five-year look-back?
A: When applying for Medicaid long-term care, the State reviews transfers made in the prior five years. Assets moved into an irrevocable trust must generally be transferred before that window to count as protected — which is why early planning matters.

Q: Can I be the trustee of my own trust?
A: For a revocable living trust, yes — most grantors serve as their own trustee while alive and well, naming a successor for incapacity or death. For an irrevocable trust, you generally should not, since retained control can defeat the trust’s tax and protection goals.

Q: How does a trust actually avoid probate?
A: Assets titled in the trust’s name are owned by the trust, not by you personally, so they don’t pass through your will or the Surrogate’s Court. The key is funding — retitling assets into the trust. An unfunded trust avoids nothing.

Q: Does this apply outside New York City?
A: Yes. We serve clients statewide — from Long Island and Westchester to the Hudson Valley and Upstate. New York’s EPTL and estate-tax rules apply across the whole state.

Get Your Questions Answered Directly

Every family’s situation is different, and a page can only go so far. The best next step is a conversation with attorney Russel Morgan, Esq.

Schedule your consultation →

This page is general information, not legal advice. New York statutes referenced: EPTL Article 7, EPTL 7-1.12, EPTL Article 11-A, and the SCPA. For the statutory text, see the New York Senate’s EPTL and the NY Department of Taxation and Finance.