Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
What Will Your Legend Be? Here in the Hudson Valley, we’re surrounded by legends—landmarks, stories, and legacies that live well beyond their times. If you’re at the point in life where you’re contemplating what your legend will be—to those you love, those yet to come, and to the causes and institutions you hold dear—Hudson Valley Estate Planning is here to ensure you’ll feel confident your wishes will be realized.
I’m Attorney Kylan Johnson, and securing your legend so that it lives well beyond your time is the goal of my practice. Whether you’re in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Manhattan, or The Bronx, you’ll find I bring a uniquely personal approach to serving my clients. First, rather than requiring you to come to my office, I will meet you where you are most comfortable. Second, I’m available on nights and weekends in addition to normal business hours. Finally, estate planning is my area of expertise, not a subordinate practice area like it is for other firms.
Whether you are looking to pass wealth to the next generation, sustain your favorite charity, or ensure you or a loved one can live comfortably into retirement, I’m here to help you develop and execute an estate plan that fulfills your wishes and secures your legend.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
My Story
I’m Attorney Kylan Johnson, and my singular focus on estate planning evolved from two distinct sources. First, in 2006, my biggest fan—my maternal grandmother, Dolly—was diagnosed with dementia. Thankfully, years before, she had granted my mother financial power of attorney. As a result, Dolly was able to live her last five years with around-the-clock care without bankrupting our family. Unfortunately, this is not true of everyone due to a lack of estate planning. I aim to fix that.
Second, I’m the grandson and son of small-town funeral directors. I have seen the real-life implications of families being either prepared or unprepared when a loved one passes. Growing up in the funeral business, I also learned the value of respect, compassion, and attentiveness to the deeply personal aspects of end-of-life matters.
I have been practicing law in New York for over 11 years. I reside in Sleepy Hollow and participate in the Hudson Valley community as a member of the Tarrytown Rotary Club, Sleepy Hollow-Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce, and Union Church of Pocantico Hills. I am also proud to sponsor the Westchester Ballet Company, which teaches teamwork, perseverance, and the pursuit of excellence to our local youth.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
What Makes Hudson Valley Estate Planning Different?
Personal attention: As a sole proprietor, I will be your direct contact. No junior attorney, no receptionist, no foreign contractor, or AI chatbot will get in the way of our one-to-one consultations. In addition, your plan and documents will be tailored to your needs by me, not a computer program algorithm.
Specialization: For many law firms, estate planning is their fourth or fifth area of expertise. For me, estate planning is my practice.
I come to you: Wherever you’re most comfortable, that’s where we’ll meet. It can be at your home, surrounded by family or close friends. Or it could be at your office or over a cup of coffee at a local eatery. You pick the place, and I will come to you.
I am available on nights and weekends: I believe it’s my job to fit into your schedule, not the other way around. Families are busier than ever, which is why I am happy to meet you when you get off work or in between activities on a weekend.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
Legend Planning
Wills
Without a will, you lose the ability to select your heirs, determine how your wealth will be distributed, or even appoint the person to execute your estate. Instead, the decision of what to do with all you owned is turned over to a New York court. Fortunately, Hudson Valley Estate Planning makes it easy to tailor a will to ensure your wealth is distributed to match your goals and avoid a will contest. Book your free consultation today.
Power of Attorney
Whether due to an accident, sudden health issue, or the natural effects of aging, many individuals are unable to make their own financial decisions at some point. When this occurs, families are often ill-prepared. Too often, this results in missed mortgage payments, property tax penalties, or a lapse in financial support to grandchildren. Hudson Valley Estate Planning is here to help craft a power of attorney that ensures your financial life remains unaffected by your health. Book your free consultation today.
Health Care Directives
Hudson Valley Estate Planning helps individuals craft the necessary documents to ensure that, should they become unable to make their own health care decisions, their preferences for various medical treatments will be made clear and actionable. These directives may include such documents as:
- Health Care Proxy: Delegates the authority to another adult to make health care decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated.
- Living Will: Crafted in tandem with the health care proxy, a living will contains specific instructions regarding the health care choices and treatments you do or do not want to receive.
- HIPAA Release Form: Ensures that the persons empowered under your health care proxy and/or living will can gain access to necessary medical records.
Book your free consultation today with Hudson Valley Estate Planning.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
Special Needs Planning
“What’s going to happen to our child if something happens to us?”
This is a question that deeply concerns parents of special needs children and adults, and establishing a plan to secure the financial and personal health of special needs family members can bring great comfort to all involved. Hudson Valley Estate Planning is committed to helping families ensure that special needs family members are properly supported when caregiving parents, grandparents, and siblings pass on. Among the options we can discuss and establish are, where applicable, life insurance trusts, personal injury settlement preservation trusts, and ways to help special needs adults qualify for nursing home or home health care benefits through Medicaid.
Book your free consultation today to learn how Hudson Valley Estate Planning can help your family.
Hudson Valley Estate Planning is proud to support special needs organizations in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Manhattan, and The Bronx. If you know of an organization in need, please contact Attorney Kylan Johnson at 914-714-4227.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
Trusts
Irrevocable Trusts
When it makes sense for certain assets to be owned and managed by someone other than the original owner, an irrevocable trust is a worthwhile option to consider. Among the benefits of an irrevocable trust are avoiding estate tax, avoiding probate court, and managing assets gifted to minors.
Book your free consultation today to learn how to secure your legend by responsibly passing your wealth on to your loved ones.
Charitable Trusts
Among the many ways to secure your legend is to create a lasting philanthropic legacy through a charitable trust. This not only benefits the causes you support, but it also serves you and your beneficiaries through tax deductions and reduced estate taxes.
Book your free consultation today to learn how to ensure your legend lives on through continued support of your favorite charities.
Revocable Trusts
Many individuals establish a revocable trust so that they can gain income from and retain control of their assets during their lifetime, while ensuring those assets will be discreetly distributed after they pass on. With the help of Hudson Valley Estate Planning, individuals can develop and execute a plan to transfer what they own to a revocable trust, and thereby provide for appropriate governance and distribution of assets when the time comes.
Reasons for establishing a revocable trust often include:
- Limiting the amount of property subject to probate. Since revocable trusts are not subject to probate, there is no probate burden on heirs. Additionally, disgruntled family members lose the ability to contest probate.
- Preserving an individual’s financial privacy. Assets in a well-crafted revocable trust will not be disclosed in a probate proceeding, as a revocable trust avoids probate altogether.
- Easing the transfer of ownership of out-of-state property. If out-of-state property is placed in a revocable trust, it will not be subject to a probate proceeding in that state.
Book your free consultation today to learn how Hudson Valley Estate Planning can help you secure your legend.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
Wealth Preservation
Estate Tax Prevention
If you own a home in Westchester County, Rockland County, Manhattan, or The Bronx, and earn even the median household income, your heirs may have to pay a significant amount in New York and/or federal estate tax.
These, in general, are the regulations that need to be considered:
- Estates valued at or above $7.16 million are generally subject to New York State estate tax.
- Estates valued at or above $13.99 million are generally subject to federal estate tax. However, starting in 2026, even smaller estates are expected to face federal estate tax rates of up to 40%.
Book your free consultation today to secure your legend by passing on more to your loved ones and favorite causes, not the government.
Medicaid Planning, Applications & Appeals
Nursing home costs in the Hudson Valley are staggering, averaging over $166,000 a year per patient. Yet without a Medicaid plan, a surprising number of seniors and special needs adults forgo treatment, while their caregivers struggle to stay employed and their families rack up debt.
To ensure you or a loved one receives Medicaid to cover the cost of long-term care, Hudson Valley Estate Planning will work with you to develop and execute a plan that optimizes all applicable benefits, including:
- Medicaid Planning: Hudson Valley Estate Planning gathers the facts about the intended Medicaid beneficiary’s financial situation, analyzes that information in the context of current Medicaid rules, and then develops and executes a plan to obtain Medicaid eligibility.
- Medicaid Applications: The process of applying for Medicaid long-term care benefits is complicated. Hudson Valley Estate Planning can help ease the challenges of navigating the application process.
- Medicaid Appeals: Even a seemingly perfect application may be rejected by Medicaid to keep the program’s costs down. Hudson Valley Estate Planning will help you appeal those decisions.
Book your free consultation today with Hudson Valley Estate Planning.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
Free Consultation
On the next page, please select the event type that best fits your situation, then follow the prompts provided. When filling out the form, you will be asked to enter the address at which you would like to meet with Attorney Kylan Johnson. This can be your home, office, favorite coffee shop, or anywhere else you feel comfortable. Just include the complete address and Attorney Kylan Johnson will come to you. Consultations are also available via Zoom.
If you have any issues with the form, just call or text Attorney Kylan Johnson at 914-714-4227.
NOTE: Scheduling a meeting alone does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
FAQ
Q: Which counties do you serve?
A: Hudson Valley Estate Planning proudly serves clients in Westchester County, Rockland County, Orange County, Putnam County, Dutchess County, and New York City.
Q: How much do you charge?
A: While I would love to have a set menu of services and prices, each client’s legal needs are different. As a result, fees are determined based on the service to be provided and the effort that will be required to satisfactorily provide that service. The information I gather at your free consultation will help determine the fee, and the fee will be clearly communicated to you at or shortly after your free consultation.
Q: What forms of payment do you accept?
- Credit card
- Debit card
- ACH (eCheck)
- “Buy now, pay later” through my designated third-party provider
- Personal check
- Cashier’s check
- Money order
Note: No legal services will be provided until payment is received and processed.
Q: Can I pay in installments?
A: Yes, if you elect to pay via the “Buy now, pay later” option noted above.
Q: How do I contact you?
A: Book your free consultation here, or call or text 914-714-4227.
Hudson Valley
Estate Planning
Secure Your Legend
Blog
Murdoch Case Should Give Irrevocable Trust Grantors Pause
December 10, 2024
By Kylan Johnson, Attorney
Grandparents Beware: Your Generosity Has Tax Consequences
November 28, 2023
By Kylan Johnson, Attorney