Careful estate planning is essential for high-net-worth individuals to protect their wealth, minimize tax liabilities, and make certain substantial assets are distributed according to their wishes.
While there are a number of complex tax and legal structures that may achieve a certain outcome, each client’s personal circumstances and family dynamics are unique. Therefore, high-net-worth estate planning is a sophisticated process that requires an experienced team of professionals who can tailor your estate plan to your specific goals and values.
With over 40 years of service and more than 407 years of combined experience, the attorneys at Pierro, Connor & Strauss are prepared to handle the most complex estate plans involving significant assets, business successions, complex family dynamics, and other requirements.
Contact Us About the Trump Tax Plan: New York Residents Take Note!
Takeaways
- The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, significantly impacts estate and financial planning.
- The federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions will rise to $15 million per individual starting in 2026. This reduces estate tax exposure for most Americans but doesn’t eliminate the need for comprehensive estate planning.While the OBBBA significantly impacts the federal estate tax, states like New York with their own estate or inheritance taxes are not bound by these federal changes. As a result, New Yorkers must continue to plan carefully to manage exposure to state-level estate taxes.
- Read our complete Advisory at the link HERE.
- Even though the Trump-backed OBBBA would permanently increase the federal estate tax exemption—raising it to $15 million per individual in 2026—New York State maintains its own estate tax system with a much lower exemption. As of 2025, the New York estate tax exemption is approximately $6.94 million per person, and unlike the federal system, New York does not offer “portability” between spouses.In addition, New York has a “cliff” provision: if your taxable estate exceeds the exemption by more than 5%, you lose the benefit of the exemption entirely, and estate tax is applied to the full estate value—not just the amount above the threshold.The takeaway? While OBBBA may reduce or eliminate your federal estate tax burden, New York’s estate tax could still take a significant bite. That’s why advanced planning techniques—such as credit shelter trusts, gifting strategies, and charitable giving—are critical for high-net-worth New Yorkers.
Bottom line: Don’t let the higher federal exemption give a false sense of security. If you live in New York, it’s critical to plan with state-level taxes in mind, making it essential for you to review your estate plans, tax strategies, and long-term care arrangements with a trusted advisor.
We strive to maximize the wealth for yourself, children, grandchildren, and charitable organizations while shielding them from heavy tax burdens on those assets.
Complex Portfolios
From investment accounts, real estate, digital assets such as NFTs and Bitcoin, as well as fine art, retirement assets and international holdings, our clients come to us with diverse types of assets, all of which must be addressed as part of an effective estate plan.
With the strategic use of trusts and other estate planning instruments, our attorneys facilitate the smooth and seamless dispensation of these assets while minimizing estate taxes and ensuring compliance with all jurisdictional regulations. Techniques include:
- Charitable Remainer Trusts (CRT)
- Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLAT)
- Beneficiary Defective Inheritor’s Trusts (BDIT)
- Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGT)
- Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts
- Gift Planning
Business Succession
As you consider the future of a business, it’s essential to have a clear plan for continuity. Whether you’re in growth mode, approaching retirement, thinking about a future transition or simply preparing for unexpected events, having a well-executed plan is key to ensuring the long-term success of your business/practice.
A well-executed transition of business ownership requires the designation of a new management structure and key decision makers, in addition to the transfer of real estate, bank accounts, and other business property.
Our NYC high-net-worth estate planning attorneys can help you draft buy-sell agreements, trusts, powers of attorney, and other documents necessary for effective business succession.
