At the Law Offices of Kobrick & Moccia, our legal team has a long history of helping LGBT individuals to overcome shortcomings in the law in order to protect their future. While there have been significant advances in anti-discrimination legislation and gay couples can now choose to marry, issues still remain in incapacity planning, retirement planning, and estate planning. Our legal team can help you to deal with those issues and make the best use of legal tools to protect your future.
When you need help with LGBT planning in Long Island, we are ready to offer you the comprehensive advice that you deserve. Give our estate planning lawyers a call today at 800-295-1917 or contact us online to find out more about the legal services we offer and the personalized advice we provide to lesbians, gay individuals, transgender individuals, and bisexual individuals. We can also answer questions you may have including:
- Why is LGBT planning important?
- What should be a part of your plan?
- How can an LGBT planning lawyer help you?
Why is LGBT Planning Important?
For lesbians, gay individuals, bisexual individuals, and transgender individuals, estate planning and retirement planning can be complicated by inadequate recognition under the law as well as by more complex family situations.
You may have a partner who you were not able to marry for a long time, which could mean you own substantial separate property or are not able to qualify for Social Security on each other’s work records. You may have non-biological children who you have raised but not adopted. You may also have a family who is not fully supportive of your sexuality or of your gender identity.
These are just some of the many issues that need to be addressed in the creation of an LGBT estate plan. Like anyone else, you want control over what happens in case you become incapacitated or if you pass away. You also want a secure retirement and to provide for your children and loved ones in the future. LGBT estate planning helps you to do all of these things, while taking into account the unique issues that can be created by your sexual or gender identity.
What Should Be Part of Your LGBT Plan?
Your LGBT estate plan should include the use of many different kinds of legal tools that protect you and protect your loved ones. The specifics of your plan should be customized to meet your needs, but your plan may include:
- Instructions for guardianship of children: This can be especially important if children are being raised with a partner who has not formally adopted them. Custody issues can arise when a parent passes away in these situations and you want to make your wishes very clear.
- Advanced instructions for your funeral and memorial. There have been many tragic cases where unsupportive family members have not posthumously recognized the true gender identity of a transgender person who has passed away. If you want to ensure you are remembered with your true gender, rather than your birth gender, you may wish to make plans in advance for your funeral and memorial.
- An incapacity plan. You want to make sure the person of your choosing manages your assets and makes medical decisions for you if something happens to you. This can be especially important if you are not married to your partner.
- An estate plan. You want to control who inherits your property. While you can use a will, sometimes a will is contested by non-supportive family members who may not recognize your relationship with a loving partner. You need to ensure you use the right legal tools to facilitate the seamless transfer of assets, which may include trusts and joint accounts that transfer assets outside of probate.
These are just some of the many different issues to address in LGBT estate planning. While the legalization of gay marriage has made it easier to provide for your partner after you are gone and to get protections at the end of your life, you still need to address many important issues to achieve a secure future.
How Can an LGBT Planning Lawyer Help You?
At the Law Offices of Kobrick & Moccia, we help married, coupled, and single LGBT individuals. We will carefully discuss your family and financial situation and your concerns about the future and we will provide you with the comprehensive legal tools that you need to protect yourself and your loved ones no matter what life brings. Give us a call today at 800-295-1917 or contact us online to speak with an LGBT planning lawyer serving the Long Island Counties of Nassau and Suffolk and the County of Westchester.
