Wills, Trusts & Estates

Our firm practices in the areas of trusts, estates and elder law. We help clients with all facets of estate and tax/asset protection planning; we help to implement trusts that are created during life as well as those that are created following one's death; we handle administration of estates and trusts, probate wills, and represent clients who oppose or object to the probate of a particular will or its handling by the appointed executor; assist clients in securing Medicaid benefits and prepare applications; represent disabled individuals and also their loved ones in the preparation and implementation of special needs trusts and supplemental needs trusts; and handle guardianship matters. I am happy to help clients in each of these areas.

• Nolo Document Review

• Estate Taxes & Gift Taxes
• IRS Filing & Compliance
• Tax Planning

• Charitable Giving
• Charitable Trusts
• Drafting Trusts
• Drafting Wills
• Estate Administration
• Estate Planning
• Living Trusts
• Living Wills
• Probate
• Asset Protection
• Guardianship
• Power of Attorney
• Business Succession Planning
• Special Needs Trust
• Supplemental Needs Trust
• Revocable Trust & Irrevocable Trust

Family Law

Our firm practices in the areas of trusts, estates and elder law. We help clients with all facets of estate and tax/asset protection planning; we help to implement trusts that are created during life as well as those that are created following one's death; we handle administration of estates and trusts, probate wills, and represent clients who oppose or object to the probate of a particular will or its handling by the appointed executor; assist clients in securing Medicaid benefits and prepare applications; represent disabled individuals and also their loved ones in the preparation and implementation of special needs trusts and supplemental needs trusts; and handle guardianship matters. I am happy to help clients in each of these areas.

• Competency Hearings
• Guardianships & Conservatorships
• Long-Term Care
• Nursing Homes
• Powers of Attorney
• Medicaid & Medicare Planning
• Advanced Health Care Directive
• Healthcare Power of Attorney
• Healthcare Proxy
• Tax Planning

NY, Jan 1979
Bar Number: 1051572

I am licensed to practice before all New York State Courts and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and over the years have secured various pro hac vice admissions to practice in other states.

I am a member of the New York State Bar Association and serve on its Trusts & Estates and Elder Law committees. I also serve on related committees of the Nassau and Suffolk County Bar Associations. I belong to the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

I attend continuing education seminars on all of the topics that embrace the areas of law in which we practice. I always exceed the required number of hours.

Larry and I publish a newsletter, entitled "A Step Ahead," four times each year. The issues are all posted on our website. Our website also features other articles we have authored.

Our estate planning practice encompasses a wide variety of family and economic situations: single individuals, married couples young and old, same sex couples, second marriages, people facing retirement, grandparents, people for whom complex estate and asset protection planning is beneficial and others whose estates are quite limited.

We assist families with disabled children who require legal guidance and counseling at several intervals in life: when the children reach the age of majority and the parent(s) seek appointment as legal guardian(s); when assets must be protected, in supplemental needs and special needs trusts, so as not to interfere with governmental benefits and entitlements; and when the parent's age and need to arrange for the future advocacy and care for their child.

We do Medicaid planning and prepare Medicaid applications. We design and help form strategies for individuals and families to protect and preserve the maximum portion of their assets before qualifying for Medicaid benefits.

We represent our clients in securing guardianship for ill and incapacitated loved ones and assist the guardian in the preparation and filing of reports and annual accountings.

On the litigation front, we represent executors in probate proceedings, administration proceedings, and trustees, working to ensure that the decedent's intent is carried out. We represent fiduciaries against whom claims have been made for improper conduct in the administration of an estate or trust and bring actions against executors, administrators and trustees who have acted improperly.

3

New York

Larry and I have each been admitted to practice for more than 25 years. We are both seasoned litigators and practitioners who combined our separate practices to form Berwitz & DiTata LLP in 2000, dedicated to the practice of what we call "Preventative Law," helping clients avoid the mistakes that waste wealth and diminish dignity.

The law firm of Berwitz & DiTata LLP is uniquely qualified to help solve problems relating to estate, retirement distribution and Medicaid planning, probate and estate administration and elder law. Our senior partners, Lawrence N. Berwitz and I, are seasoned counselors and litigators, and we devote our practice to:

• Preparation of wills, living wills and durable powers of attorney
• Asset preservation and planning to minimize estate tax liability
• Creation and implementation of trusts
• Medicaid eligibility planning/preparation of Medicaid applications
• IRA, 401k and Keogh distribution planning
• Guardianship, probate, will contests and administration of estates and trusts

Having practiced law for almost thirty years, I am still proud to say that my first job out of law school was as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County (Manhattan), one of the largest and most prestigious prosecutors' offices in the country. After fulfilling my commitment and completing that service, I moved into private practice at a small New York City based firm and worked my way from associate attorney to partner. I left that firm, with one of my partners, to join a much larger firm. It was only after I really understood "big firm" economics that I realized that the kind of work that I enjoy most is the one-on-one interaction with my clients that can be best achieved in a small and, therefore, more intimate legal environment.

I belong to the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the American Business Women's Association, the Mineola-Garden City Rotary, and the Garden City Assembly, and serve on the Community Advisory Board of The Amsterdam at Harborside, a life care community which is planned for construction in Port Washington, New York, the first of its kind in Nassau County. I am a member of the New York State Bar Association and serve on its Trusts & Estates and Elder Law Committees, and serve on related committees of the Nassau and Suffolk County Bar Associations. I am a frequent lecturer and author articles on issues concerning estate planning, asset preservation and elder law.

Office Manager: Birgit Stiglitz. In addition, two paralegals, two legal assistants & clerical staff.

(516) 747-3727

Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Evening hours by appointment only

Yes

We do have flat fee arrangements with our clients in certain areas of our practice. Because we believe that our clients are unique and their matters should be given personalized attention, the fees reflect the work that we will perform and are not "packaged."

These vary depending on which member of the firm performs the services or completes the task and on the nature and complexity of the work.

We charge $350 for an initial consultation and these generally last from 60 to 90 minutes.

No, we do not have a "typical" retainer because in establishing this amount we take into consideration, among other things, the work involved and its complexity.