• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Law Offices of Kobrick and Moccia

Long Island Estate Planning Attorneys

ESTATE, TRUST PLANNING &
ELDER LAW INFORMATION CENTER

Call Now: (800) 295.1917

  • Attend Our Free Webinars
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Client Testimonials
    • Meet Our Team
  • Services
    • Blended Family Planning
    • Elder Law
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration
  • Elder Law
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Guardianship
    • Medicaid Planning
    • Nursing Home Planning
  • Resources
    • Articles
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Commack Elder Law
      • Elder Law Reports
      • Harrison Elder Law
      • Hauppauge Elder Law
      • Rockville Centre Elder Law
      • White Plains Elder Law
    • Estate Planning Definitions
    • FREE Estate Planning Worksheet
    • FREE Seminars
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Elder Law
      • Estate Planning
      • Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • LGBTQ Estate Planning
      • Medicaid
      • Probate
      • Trust Administration
      • Trust Administration & Probate
      • Wills and Trusts
    • Is My Estate Plan Outdated?
    • Legacy Wealth Planning Consultation Form
    • Medicaid Resources
    • Probate Resources
      • Harrison Probate
      • Hauppauge Probate
      • Long Island Probate
    • Probate Checklist
    • Special Reports
      • Advanced Estate Planning
      • Basic Estate Planning
      • Estate Planning for Niches
      • Trust Administration
    • Top Estate Planning Techniques
  • Communities We Serve
    • Nassau County
      • Garden City
      • Lynbrook
      • Malverne
      • Rockville Centre
    • Suffolk County
      • Commack
      • Dix Hills
      • Hauppauge
      • Nesconset
      • Smithtown
    • Westchester County
      • Harrison
      • Mamaroneck
      • Rye Brook
      • White Plains
  • Webinars
  • BLOG
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Contact Us
Home » Incapacity Planning » Do You Need an Incapacity Plan?

Do You Need an Incapacity Plan?

January 8, 2016 by Anthony Moccia Leave a Comment

25126A comprehensive estate plan should accomplish a variety of goals above and beyond the primary goal of deciding what will happen to your estate assets when you die. Although each estate plan is as unique as the individual who creates the plan, there are some additional goals that are commonly found in a well drafted estate plan, including incapacity planning. You may be wondering if you need an incapacity plan. The simple answer to that is that everyone should have an incapacity plan.

When you hear the word “incapacity” you may immediately envision an elderly individual suffering from Alzheimer’s or another old age related dementia disease. While Alzheimer’s will certainly eventually lead to incapacity, there are a virtually endless number of other circumstances that could render you incapacitated tomorrow, such as a debilitating illness, workplace accident, or catastrophic personal injury. Statistically speaking, you stand a one in five chance of suffering a period of incapacity before you reach retirement age. At retirement age, those odds increase to almost one in two and by age 85 to three out of four.

Imagine, for a moment, what would happen if you were to become incapacitated tomorrow. Who would take care of your home, your financial accounts, and any other assets you own? Who would make personal decision for you such as what medical treatment to approve or refuse and where you will live during your incapacity? Of equal importance, do any of the people you would appoint have the legal authority to make the decisions or take control? Unless you already have an incapacity plan in place the answer to that question is likely “no.” In that case, a court will likely need to decide who to appoint to take control of your assets and make medical decisions for you. Not only will that potentially become costly and time consuming, but it could drive a wedge into your family and loved ones if more than one individual petitions to be appointed to the same position.

The simple way to avoid the time, cost, conflict, and uncertainty is to include incapacity planning in your overall estate plan. Most incapacity plans include Advance Directives along with provisions for a shift in control of estate assets. An advance directive will allow you to appoint someone to make healthcare related decisions for you should you be unable to make them. You may also decide to create a revocable living trust and appoint yourself as the trustee and your chosen successor as your successor trustee. Important assets are then transferred into the trust. If you become incapacitated, your successor trustee steps in and takes over automatically.

If you have additional questions or concerns about incapacity planning or estate planning in general, contact the experienced New York estate planning attorneys at The Law Offices of Kobrick & Moccia by calling 800-295-1917 to schedule your appointment.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Anthony Moccia
Anthony Moccia
Anthony Moccia is an attorney and partner at The Law Offices of Kobrick & Moccia.His practice focuses on estate planning and elder law.He is a member of the New York State and Nassau County Bar Associations.He frequently presents free seminars on wills & living trusts to area residents and his seminars are said to be “informative, entertaining & easy to understand.”
Anthony Moccia
Latest posts by Anthony Moccia (see all)
  • “Last Will and Testament” Origin - April 1, 2021
  • Do I Need a “Durable” Power of Attorney? - April 2, 2020
  • Joint Tenancy Pros and Cons - March 31, 2020

Filed Under: Incapacity Planning

Other Articles You May Find Useful

Harrison guardianship lawyers
Steps You Can Take Now to Avoid Guardianship Later
Nassau County living trust
Can a Living Trust Help Me with Incapacity Planning?
Living trust
Using a Living Trust for Incapacity Planning
Incapacity Planning: What Is It and Who Needs It
Do You Need an Incapacity Plan
Incapacity Planning in New York: Why It Should be Part of Your Estate Plan
Free Report: Incapacity Planning in New York: Why It Should be Part of Your Estate Plan

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Law Offices of Kobrick and Moccia

Download our free estate planning worksheet

There's a lot that goes into setting up a comprehensive estate plan, but with our FREE worksheet, you'll be one step closer to getting yourself and your family on the path to a secure and happy future.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Blog Subscription

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

GARDEN CITY

1305 Franklin Avenue Suite 170
Garden City, NY 11530
United States (US)
Phone: (516) 248-9500
Fax: (516) 248-7606

HAUPPAUGE

150 Motor Parkway Suite 401 (Regus)
Hauppauge, NY 11788
United States (US)
Phone: (631) 941-3400
Fax: (516) 248-7606

HARRISON

600 Mamaroneck Avenue, 4th Floor
Harrison, NY 10528
United States (US)
Phone: (914) 701-0777
Fax: (516) 248-7606

MAP

kobrick_sidbr_map

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Footer

footer-logo
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

The information on this Attorneys & Lawyers / Law Firm website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other communications should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. The information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

Kobrick and Moccia, Attorneys at Law. Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Disclaimer | Site Map | Powered by American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

Law Offices of Kobrick and Moccia
Attorney Advertisement
© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.