The 2026 New York Estate Planning Guide for Residents Statewide

Estate planning in New York is not a one-size-fits-all download. The rules that govern your will, your trusts, your power of attorney, and your taxable estate come from New York’s own statutes — the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL), the General Obligations Law (GOL), the Public Health Law, and the New York Tax Law — and they differ in important ways from the federal default and from neighboring states. Whether you live in Manhattan or Buffalo, on Long Island or in the Hudson Valley, in Westchester or far Upstate, the same New York framework applies to you. This guide, written for New York State residents and current to 2026, walks through that framework so you can build a plan that actually works the way you intend.

At Morgan Legal Group, attorney Russel Morgan, Esq. builds coordinated plans for clients across the entire state. The themes below are intentionally NY-specific. If you have read a generic “estate planning” article before, you will notice that the citations here are to real New York statutes and that the 2026 dollar figures are New York figures — not federal ones.

What a Complete New York Estate Plan Includes

A comprehensive New York estate plan is not a single document. It is four instruments, drafted to work together:

Document	Governing NY Law	What It Does
Last Will & Testament	EPTL §3-2.1	Directs who inherits your property and names an executor and guardians for minor children.
Trust(s)	EPTL Article 7	Avoids probate (revocable) or reduces tax and protects assets (irrevocable).
Durable Power of Attorney	GOL §5-1513	Lets a trusted agent manage your finances if you cannot.
Health Care Proxy	Public Health Law Article 29-C	Appoints an agent to make your medical decisions.

The coordination between these documents is where most do-it-yourself plans fail. A will that contradicts how your accounts are titled, a trust that is never funded, or a financial power of attorney that is mistaken for a medical one — these are the gaps that send New York families into avoidable Surrogate’s Court disputes. A complete plan, reviewed together, closes them.

Your New York Will (EPTL §3-2.1)

The will is the foundation. New York’s execution requirements are strict, and they are strict for a reason: courts enforce them precisely, and a will that misses a formality can be challenged or denied.

Under EPTL §3-2.1, a valid New York will requires:

• The testator’s signature at the END of the document. Anything added below the signature is generally not given effect.
• Two attesting witnesses, who sign within a reasonable time of one another.
• Publication — the testator must declare to the witnesses that the document is their will.

Skipping or fumbling any of these steps is the single most common reason a New York will is contested. For the consequences of fixing none of this, see below.

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in New York

If you die without a valid will — “intestate” — New York’s intestacy statute, EPTL Article 4, decides who inherits, in a fixed order the state has chosen for you. A surviving spouse and children, for example, split the estate under a statutory formula; the state does not ask what you would have wanted. Intestacy also means the court, not you, effectively controls the timeline and the appointment of who administers your estate. Learn more on our dedicated wills page.

Trusts in New York (EPTL Article 7)

Trusts are governed by EPTL Article 7, and the right one depends entirely on your goal. The most expensive mistake New Yorkers make is choosing the wrong type — or believing a trust does something it does not.

Revocable Living Trust

A revocable living trust lets you keep full control of your assets during your lifetime and avoids probate in Surrogate’s Court when you die. Probate avoidance means privacy and speed for your heirs. But be clear about its limits: a revocable trust provides no estate-tax savings and no asset protection, because you still own and control everything in it.

Irrevocable Trust

An irrevocable trust is the tool for tax reduction, asset protection, and Medicaid planning. Because you give up control of the assets, they can be removed from your taxable estate and shielded from creditors. For Medicaid eligibility, New York applies a five-year look-back period, so an irrevocable trust used for long-term-care planning must generally be funded well in advance of need.

Supplemental Needs Trust (SNT)

A Supplemental Needs Trust under EPTL 7-1.12 allows a beneficiary with a disability to receive an inheritance without losing means-tested government benefits such as Medicaid and SSI. It is one of the most important — and most overlooked — tools in New York estate planning for families caring for a loved one with special needs.

Explore all of these in depth on our trusts page.

Your Durable Power of Attorney (GOL §5-1513)

The New York Power of Attorney is governed by GOL §5-1513. In New York, a power of attorney is durable by default, meaning it remains effective even if you later become incapacitated — which is precisely when it matters most.

New York overhauled this area with the 2021 statutory short form. The current form is more forgiving of minor errors than the old one and includes provisions that make it harder for banks to wrongfully reject a valid POA. Because the financial POA only covers financial and legal matters — never medical ones — it must be paired with a separate health care proxy. See our power of attorney page for details.

Your Health Care Proxy (Public Health Law Article 29-C)

A New York Health Care Proxy, authorized by Public Health Law Article 29-C, appoints an agent to make medical decisions for you if you cannot speak for yourself. This is entirely distinct from your financial power of attorney: the two documents cover different domains, name potentially different agents, and operate under different statutes. Together they ensure that someone you trust can act for you across both your finances and your health care. Read more on our health care proxy page.

The 2026 New York Estate Tax — and the “Cliff” Every New Yorker Should Know

New York imposes its own estate tax, separate from the federal estate tax, and its structure contains a trap that catches families who never thought they were “wealthy enough” to worry about it.

For deaths on or after January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, the New York basic exclusion amount is:

2026 NY Estate Tax Figure	Amount
Basic exclusion amount	$7,350,000
The “cliff” (105% of exclusion)	$7,717,500
Tax rate range	Progressive 3% – 16%
New York gift tax	None
Gift add-back window	Gifts within 3 years of death

Here is the part that surprises people. New York’s exemption is not a deduction that simply protects the first $7.35 million. It is a cliff. If your taxable estate is at or under $7,350,000, no New York estate tax applies. But if your estate exceeds 105% of the exclusion — $7,717,500 — you lose the ENTIRE exemption, and your estate is taxed from the first dollar, not just on the amount above the threshold. An estate that pushes just over the cliff can owe a strikingly large tax that a slightly smaller estate would not owe at all.

This is why proactive planning matters so much for New Yorkers near these numbers. New York has no gift tax, which creates real planning opportunities — but note that gifts made within three years of death are added back to your taxable estate, so deathbed giving will not defeat the calculation. Coordinated lifetime gifting, charitable planning, and irrevocable trusts are the standard tools for keeping an estate below the cliff. We cover the mechanics in our New York estate tax guide.

Estate Planning Across All of New York State

Because these are state statutes, the substantive rules are the same whether your estate will ultimately be administered in a downstate or upstate Surrogate’s Court. The EPTL, the GOL, and the Public Health Law apply uniformly. What varies by region is context — property values, local court practice, and the realities of long-term-care costs — and a good plan accounts for those without changing the underlying legal framework. Morgan Legal Group serves clients statewide: New York City, Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Upstate alike.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a will if I have a living trust?

Yes. Even with a fully funded revocable living trust, New York attorneys recommend a “pour-over” will under EPTL §3-2.1 to capture any assets you did not transfer into the trust and to name guardians for minor children, which a trust cannot do.

Will a revocable living trust reduce my New York estate tax?

No. A revocable living trust avoids probate but provides no estate-tax savings, because you retain full ownership and control of the assets. To reduce New York estate tax, you generally need an irrevocable trust or lifetime gifting strategy.

What is the New York estate tax “cliff” in 2026?

If your taxable estate exceeds 105% of the basic exclusion — $7,717,500 in 2026 — you lose the entire $7,350,000 exemption and the estate is taxed from the first dollar at rates from 3% to 16%. Staying at or below the exclusion avoids the tax entirely.

Is my financial power of attorney the same as my health care proxy?

No. A durable power of attorney under GOL §5-1513 covers financial and legal matters. A health care proxy under Public Health Law Article 29-C covers medical decisions. They are separate documents and you need both.

What happens if I die without a will in New York?

Your property passes by intestacy under EPTL Article 4, which distributes your estate to relatives in a fixed statutory order — regardless of your actual wishes — and leaves the court to oversee administration.

Build Your New York Plan

Estate planning rewards the people who do it deliberately and on time — especially given New York’s strict will formalities, the Medicaid five-year look-back, and the estate-tax cliff. Attorney Russel Morgan, Esq. and Morgan Legal Group help New York residents statewide assemble a coordinated will, trust, power of attorney, and health care proxy that fit together.

Schedule a consultation with Russel Morgan, Esq.

Authoritative external resources: the New York Senate’s published statutes (EPTL), the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (estate tax), and the New York State Department of Health (health care proxy).