We design, draft, and fund trusts for clients across New York, New Jersey, and Ohio — from revocable living trusts to ILITs, SLATs, GRATs, and dynasty trusts.
Drew Jacobs — Admitted in NY, NJ, OH
Every trust serves a different purpose — probate, tax, creditor protection, or multi-generational transfer. We match the structure to your situation.
A trust you control during life. At incapacity or death, your successor trustee manages or distributes assets privately, without probate.
Families with minor children, multi-state homeowners, and anyone who values privacy.
Probate is public, slow, and costly. A funded trust avoids it and eases incapacity transitions.
You own real estate, have minor children, or want a private, guardianship-free incapacity plan.
A trust you cannot unilaterally amend. Assets transferred in generally leave your taxable estate and, if funded ahead of any claim, can gain creditor protection.
High-net-worth individuals with estate tax or liability exposure who want to lock in today's exemption.
Assets in your name face estate tax and creditor claims. Irrevocable trusts separate them legally.
Your estate exceeds or approaches the federal exclusion (roughly $15M per individual in 2026), or you face liability exposure.
An irrevocable trust that owns your life insurance policy, excluding the death benefit from your taxable estate.
Individuals whose estate, including insurance, exceeds the federal exemption.
A large policy can push an estate over the exemption, triggering 40% tax. An ILIT removes it entirely.
Your policy, combined with other assets, creates estate tax exposure. Best set up before the policy issues.
An irrevocable trust for your spouse and descendants, keeping assets and appreciation outside both estates.
Married couples who want to use gift exemption without losing family access.
The exemption could shrink. A SLAT uses it now while preserving access through your spouse.
You're married with exemption available and want assets out of the estate without losing all access.
An irrevocable trust holding an appreciating asset; outperformance above the IRS rate passes gift-tax-free.
Founders and investors holding concentrated or pre-IPO equity likely to outpace the IRS rate.
Appreciating assets compound tax exposure. A GRAT freezes value and transfers outperformance tax-free.
You hold assets with high growth potential relative to the current IRS rate; you must outlive the term.
A trust designed to last for generations, transferring wealth without repeated estate tax.
Families with significant wealth who want to benefit grandchildren and beyond.
Each generation otherwise pays 40% estate tax on transfer. Dynasty trusts break that cycle.
You have wealth you don't need in your lifetime and want to benefit multiple generations.
Holds assets for children not yet ready to inherit; the trustee releases assets in stages as they age.
Parents and grandparents who don't want to hand a lump sum to an 18-year-old.
Minors can't legally inherit outright. Without a trust, a court appoints a guardian.
You have children under 25 or are naming them as beneficiaries — foundational for every parent's plan.
Holds assets for a beneficiary with disabilities without disqualifying them from Medicaid or SSI.
Families with a dependent who receives or may need needs-based benefits.
An outright inheritance can disqualify someone from benefits. A trust supplements rather than replaces support.
You have a family member with a disability who receives or may need public assistance.
Retitling assets into the trust so it actually controls what it's meant to. Without funding, a trust is an empty shell.
Anyone who has created or is creating a trust — this is where most DIY plans fail.
Well-drafted trusts often hold nothing because no one retitled assets, so probate still applies.
At completion of every trust-based plan and whenever you acquire new assets. We include funding guidance.
Trust law varies by state, and estate tax and asset protection rules influence the structure we recommend.
Nothing on this page is legal advice for your situation. The right trust depends on a detailed review, provided during a strategy call.
Drew Jacobs is licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. We represent clients whose residence, primary assets, or business interests are situated in those states.
Understand, design, document, fund — trust structures matched to your assets, family, and state.
Share your situation through our secure online intake.
A working session with Drew to map trust options under the law of your state.
A written scope and flat fee. You decide before we begin.
We draft, execute, and walk you through funding your trusts.
We price trust engagements on a fixed-fee basis with no hourly billing surprises.
A foundational revocable trust plan is quoted as a single package; irrevocable trusts are quoted individually based on complexity.
It depends on your goals — a revocable living trust for probate avoidance, or irrevocable structures for estate tax exposure. We map the right combination during a strategy call.
No. Because you retain control, assets stay in your taxable estate. Reduction requires irrevocable trusts like ILITs, SLATs, or GRATs.
Generally no, but modern drafting allows limited flexibility through trust protectors and decanting provisions.
Yes. A pour-over will catches unfunded assets and names guardians for minor children.
An unfunded trust controls nothing — those assets still pass through probate.
Every engagement is priced on a fixed fee. You know the full cost before any work begins.
Fixed-fee trust planning for clients in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio.
Drew Jacobs is licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. Nothing on this page constitutes legal advice or an offer to represent you in a jurisdiction in which we are not licensed. Trust and tax law is highly state-specific — the right structure for a New York client may differ materially from the right structure for an Ohio or New Jersey client.
The honest comparison — court involvement, privacy, incapacity, out-of-state property, and cost over time — plus when a will alone is genuinely enough in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio.
Educational material only — not legal advice. Requesting the guide does not create an attorney-client relationship. We do not sell or share your email.