The Village Law Firm

08/14/2026

If something happened to you tomorrow, would your child be protected? Many divorced parents assume everything would fall into place. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case.

Without proper estate planning, important decisions about your child, your assets, and your wishes could end up in the hands of the court, or even an ex-spouse you never intended to be in control.

Join Shannon P. McNulty, Esq. for a free live webinar where you'll learn how to:
✅ Protect assets for your children's benefit
✅ Name trusted decision-makers and guardians
✅ Avoid common estate planning mistakes after divorce

📅 Wednesday, August 19
🕛 12:00 PM ET
💻 Free Webinar on Zoom

Can't attend live? Register anyway and receive the recording.

Reserve your spot today using the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4917867329080/WN_MJFIEWaFQwqT6vuRmyN23g

You'll leave with practical steps you can take right away to gain peace of mind and protect the people who matter most.

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07/31/2026

July is ending, which makes this a good moment for a thirty-second gut check. The estate planning you promised yourself you would handle this year, where does it actually stand?

Here is the short list that covers most families. A will that names guardians and directs your assets. A durable power of attorney. A healthcare proxy. A guardian who has actually been told. A trust, if you have one, that is fully funded. Beneficiary designations that match your current life, not your life from five years ago.

If you read that and felt a small wince at one or two of them, that wince is useful. It is telling you exactly where to start. None of these take as long as you fear, and all of them are easier to do now, calmly, than later, in a hurry.

You have until Labor Day to turn a someday into a done. We would be glad to help you get there.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

Looking at that list, which item gave you the biggest wince, and what would it take to finally cross it off?

07/29/2026

Proud to be featured in Gay Parent Magazine!

“For many LGBTQ+ parents, simple acts of parenthood that others take for granted can seem extraordinary. A morning school run or a family dinner are activities that might have seemed unimaginable not long ago.

These ‘ordinary’ pleasures were only made possible by long, hard-fought legal and political battles.”

Author: Shannon P. McNulty, Esq. (pictured)
Article: Advertiser Spotlight The Village Law Firm (New York) - Protecting Your Family in Uncertain Times
Free Gay Parent Magazine July-August Issue: https://bit.ly/43HGKO8

Find more family stories, and LGBTQ friendly resources for building and nurturing your family on our website www.gayparentmag.com

07/29/2026

Naming a guardian for your children in your will is one of the most important things you will ever do. And it is only half the job.

The other half is telling the person. It sounds obvious, and yet I have seen it go the other way more than once, a named guardian learning, in a lawyer's office, after a tragedy, that they had been chosen to raise children they were not prepared for. That is a terrible way to find out, and it is completely avoidable.

So have the conversation. Tell the person you chose. Make sure they are willing and able. Talk about your values, your hopes for your kids, the practical things. Name a backup in case life changes for your first choice.

The document makes it legal. The conversation makes it real.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

If you have named a guardian, have you actually told them, and have you talked through what you would want for your kids?

07/28/2026

Earlier this month I talked about the most expensive estate planning mistake, an unfunded trust. Today, the fix, as a simple checklist you can actually use.

If you have a revocable living trust, funding it means moving your assets into its name so the trust can do its job. Here is the short version. Retitle your real estate into the trust. Move your bank and brokerage accounts into the trust. Review your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance so they coordinate with the plan rather than fight it. And keep a current list of what is owned by the trust and what is not, so nothing slips through the cracks.

That last step is the one people skip, and it is the one that saves your family the most confusion later. A trust only controls what is actually titled in its name. Everything you leave out may still end up in probate.

If you are not sure whether your trust is fully funded, that uncertainty is your answer. It is worth a check.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

If you already have a trust, are you confident every asset that should be in it actually is?

07/27/2026

Yesterday was the anniversary of the ADA. Today, the practical follow-up: how a supplemental needs trust actually works, because the details are where families either protect their loved one or accidentally hurt them.

Here is the main idea. Benefits like Medicaid and SSI have strict asset limits. If your loved one with a disability receives money directly, it counts against those limits and can disqualify them. A supplemental needs trust holds the money instead. Because your loved one does not own or control it directly, it is not counted, so their benefits stay intact. The trust then pays for the things benefits do not cover: therapies, education, technology, travel, the experiences that make a life rich rather than just maintained.

The rules are precise. The trust has to be drafted and administered correctly, or it does not work. This is not a place for a template. It is a place for someone who does this carefully.

Done right, it is one of the most loving, protective structures in all of estate planning.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

For families navigating benefits and care, what is the question you most wish someone would just answer plainly?

07/26/2026

Today is the thirty-sixth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it falls in Disability Pride Month. The 2026 theme is The World Works Better With Us. It is a good day to talk about a kind of planning that protects the people we love.

If you care for a family member with a disability, here is something important to understand. Leaving money to them directly, even with the best intentions, can accidentally disqualify them from the benefits they depend on, like Medicaid and SSI. The rules look at assets, and a sudden inheritance can push them over the limit.

A supplemental needs trust solves this. It lets you provide for your loved one's quality of life, the extras that benefits do not cover, without putting their eligibility at risk. It has to be set up correctly to work.

Protection is love made practical. For these families, the right structure is everything.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

For the families here planning around a loved one's care and benefits, what has been the hardest part to get clear answers on?

07/25/2026

A quick note on why I built my practice the way I did.

Most estate planning attorneys are excellent on the law. The challenge is that estate planning is never only a legal question. It is a tax question, a financial question, and a family question, all at once. Too often, families get a beautifully drafted document from a lawyer and a separate financial plan from an advisor, and the two never quite talk to each other.

I hold both a law degree and the CFP designation. I built it that way on purpose. It means that when we plan, I am looking at the legal structure and the tax and financial consequences in the same conversation, for the same family, at the same time. The will or the trust is not separate from the money. It is connected to it, the way it actually is in real life.

That is the difference my clients tell me they feel most. Not two systems that do not match. One plan that does.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

Have you ever felt like your legal plan and your financial plan were built by two people who never spoke to each other?

07/24/2026

If someone has named you as their executor, you should know what you are actually signing up for. It is more than holding the will in a drawer.

When the person passes, the executor files the will with Surrogate's Court, formally notifies heirs and creditors, takes inventory of everything the person owned, pays valid debts and final taxes, keeps a careful accounting of every dollar in and out, and only then distributes what remains to the beneficiaries. Each step has rules and deadlines, and the executor can be held personally responsible for handling it incorrectly.

None of that is meant to scare you out of the role. It is meant to make sure you go in with your eyes open and the right support. Most executors work with an attorney precisely so they do not have to memorize the process or carry the risk alone.

Saying yes to being an executor is a real commitment. It deserves a real conversation before you agree.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

If you have ever served as an executor, what surprised you most about how much it involved?

07/23/2026

If you live abroad and you are set to inherit US assets, or you have heirs overseas, here is something most families learn the hard way.

Inheriting US-based property, accounts, or real estate from another country is not a simple transfer. Non-resident heirs can face US estate tax exposure on those US assets, a probate process in a US court even though they live overseas, and withholding rules that can hold funds for months. The paperwork crosses two legal systems, two tax authorities, and often two languages.

This is precisely the kind of situation where a general estate plan, or no plan, creates expensive delays. Coordinated cross-border planning sets it up so the inheritance actually reaches the people it is meant for, without a year of friction.

If your family spans countries, the time to structure this is now, not at the moment of loss.

The Village Law Firm | Brooklyn & Manhattan, NYC

For families with members or assets in more than one country, what has been the most confusing part of planning across borders?