A 2025 Year-End Guide to Your NY Estate Plan
For more than 30 years, I have started countless consultations with the same sentence from my clients: “I know I should have done this years ago.” If you are reading this, that sentiment probably feels familiar. Creating an estate plan has been on your to-do list for months, or perhaps years. It sits there, a source of low-grade anxiety, perpetually pushed to the bottom of the list by more immediate demands. This is the biggest hurdle in estate planning: the profound and powerful force of human procrastination.
Let me be clear: you are not lazy or irresponsible. You are busy. Life is demanding. The process seems complex, the conversations feel difficult, and the topic itself is one most of us would rather avoid. But as we stand at the close of 2025, I am writing this guide with a newfound sense of urgency. The end of this year is not just another passing calendar page. It is a hard deadline, the closing of a significant window of opportunity in federal tax law that will impact families for a generation to come.
This guide is designed for you, the intelligent procrastinator. At Morgan Legal Group, we understand the barriers that prevent action. Our goal here is to deconstruct that hurdle, break down the process into simple, achievable steps, and give you a compelling reason to finally act. The time to overcome the hurdle is now. For a conversation to get you started, contact our firm.
Part 1: Deconstructing the Hurdle – Why We Procrastinate on Estate Planning
To overcome a barrier, you must first understand it. Procrastination on estate planning is rarely about a single issue, but a combination of psychological and practical roadblocks. Recognizing these is the first step to moving past them.
The Psychological Barriers
- Emotional Avoidance: The most obvious reason is that estate planning forces us to confront our own mortality. It is a conversation that is inherently uncomfortable, and it is natural to put it off in favor of more pleasant tasks.
- Perceived Complexity: The world of wills, trusts, and probate seems filled with confusing jargon. The fear of not understanding the process, or of making a “wrong” decision, can lead to decision paralysis.
- The “I’m Not Wealthy Enough” Myth: Many people in New York believe that estate planning is only for the millionaire class. This is dangerously false. If you have children, own a home, or have any savings, you have an estate that needs a plan.
- Decision Paralysis on Key Roles: The weight of choosing a guardian for your children or an executor for your will can feel immense. Being “stuck” on this one decision can prevent the entire process from moving forward.
The Solution: A Change in Mindset
The key to overcoming this is to reframe the task. Stop thinking of estate planning as a single, morbid, monolithic project. Instead, see it as an act of profound love, organization, and responsibility. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give your family. It is a project like any other, which can be broken down into a series of clear and manageable steps.
Part 2: The 2025 “Get It Done” Action Plan – A Step-by-Step Guide
Let’s transform this daunting task into a simple, actionable project plan that you can start today and complete before the year is out.
Step 1: The “1-Hour Inventory”
Set a timer for one hour. Do not aim for perfection, just progress. In this single hour, create a simple list.
- Your People: Write down the full legal names and dates of birth for yourself, your spouse, your children, and anyone else you want to include in your plan.
- Your Assets:
- Brooklyn
- Your Liabilities:
That’s it. In one hour, you will have completed the foundational information-gathering step that many people never start.
Step 2: The “3 Key Decisions”
Now, think through three core questions. You don’t need final answers, just initial thoughts.
- Who are your beneficiaries? (Who gets what?)
- Who are your fiduciaries? (Who is in charge? Your executor, your agent under a Power of Attorney, the guardian for your children?)
- What are your wishes? (What do you want to happen if you’re incapacitated or after you pass?)
Step 3: Schedule the Consultation – The Most Powerful Step
This is the single most effective action you can take to break the cycle of procrastination. Go to our website and schedule an appointment. Putting a date on the calendar transforms an abstract goal into a concrete commitment. An initial consultation is not a high-pressure sales meeting; it is a strategy session where we listen to you, answer your questions, and outline a clear path forward.
Part 3: The “Core Four” – Understanding the Essential Documents
Part of the fear of estate planning is the fear of the unknown. Let’s demystify the four essential documents that form the foundation of most New York estate plans.
Document 1: The Last Will and Testament
A will is your instruction manual for what happens after you die. Its primary jobs are to direct your “probate assets” (those in your sole name) and, most critically for parents, to nominate a guardian for your minor children. Without a will, a judge who does not know you or your family will make that decision.
Document 2: The Durable Power of Attorney
This is your protection against lifetime incapacity. It is a legal document where you appoint a trusted person (your “agent”) to manage your financial affairs if you are unable to. Without it, your family would need to go to court for an expensive and public guardianship just to pay your bills.
Document 3: The Health Care Proxy
This is the medical equivalent of the Power of Attorney. You appoint an agent to make healthcare decisions for you if you cannot communicate them yourself. It ensures someone you trust is your advocate, speaking for you when you cannot speak for yourself.
Document 4: The Revocable Living Trust
For many New Yorkers, a trust is the modern cornerstone of their plan. It is a private legal entity you create to own your assets. A funded trust offers three huge benefits: it avoids the public, costly, and slow probate process; it provides a seamless transition of management during incapacity; and it gives you ultimate control over how and when your heirs receive their inheritance.
An expert attorney like Russel Morgan can help you determine if a trust-based plan is right for you.
Part 4: The Urgent Reason to Act Before 2026 – The Closing Window
For procrastinators, there is often a need for a deadline. This year, there is a real one. The end of 2025 is the final opportunity for many families to take advantage of the most favorable estate tax laws we have seen in our lifetimes. This is not a political prediction; it is a scheduled change in the law.
The 2026 Estate Tax Cliff Explained
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 temporarily doubled the federal estate tax exemption. For 2025, this allows an individual to pass on $13.61 million (or over $27 million for a married couple) without paying any federal estate tax. However, this law has a “sunset” provision. On January 1, 2026, the exemption is scheduled to be cut in half, to an estimated $7 million per person.
This “tax cliff” will suddenly expose millions more families, especially those in high-asset areas like Westchester or New York City, to a 40% federal estate tax on assets above the new, lower threshold.
The Procrastinator’s Risk: Losing the “Use It or Lose It” Opportunity
The IRS has confirmed that large gifts made before the end of 2025 using the current high exemption will not be “clawed back” after the law changes. This creates a powerful “use it or lose it” opportunity. By procrastinating past this year, you are giving up a once-in-a-generation chance to transfer significant wealth to your family completely tax-free using advanced strategies like Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs) or Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs). This is particularly relevant for those whose estates are in the $7 million to $27 million range. This is a critical topic in our elder law and tax planning practices.
Conclusion: Your Last, Best Chance to Act
The biggest hurdle to estate planning is almost always taking the first step. This guide has broken down that step into a simple, manageable process. The end of 2025 has provided what every procrastinator needs: a hard deadline with real, tangible financial consequences. The choice to delay any further is a choice to leave your family less protected and potentially subject to millions of dollars in avoidable estate taxes.
You have put it off long enough. The end of the year is approaching, and with it, the end of an era in tax law. Now is the time to finally check “estate plan” off your list. Now is the time to overcome the hurdle. Contact Morgan Legal Group today for a year-end consultation. Let us help you cross the finish line and enter the new year with the profound peace of mind that comes from knowing your family is protected.
For more information about why planning is so important, you can visit the resources provided by the American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law.
The post The Procrastinator’s Last Chance: A 2025 Year-End Guide to Tackling Your New York Estate Plan. appeared first on Morgan Legal Group PC.
