A trust is a legal arrangement where a trustee holds and manages property for beneficiaries under terms you set. Its core benefit in New York is probate avoidance: property titled in a trust passes directly to beneficiaries without going through the Kings County Surrogate’s Court. Trusts also provide privacy, incapacity planning, and — through irrevocable trusts — Medicaid and estate-tax protection. For a Brooklyn homeowner sitting on a brownstone that has appreciated into the millions, a trust is often the central planning tool.
Why Brooklyn homeowners care about trusts
A deeded Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights brownstone passing through a will means months in a high-volume Surrogate’s Court, public filings, and the possibility of a contest among heirs. The same home held in a revocable living trust passes to your chosen beneficiaries privately and almost immediately. Given Kings County’s appreciated real estate and its longer timelines, the probate-avoidance value of a trust is concrete here.
Revocable living trust vs. will
| Feature | Revocable living trust | Will |
|---|---|---|
| Avoids probate? | Yes, for assets titled in it | No — goes through Surrogate’s Court |
| Privacy | Private | Public court record |
| Control if you become incapacitated | Yes — successor trustee steps in | No |
| Cost to set up | Higher upfront | Lower upfront |
| Can be changed? | Yes, anytime while competent | Yes, anytime while competent |
A revocable trust does not save estate tax — you still own the assets for tax purposes. Its value is process, privacy, and incapacity control.
Irrevocable trusts and Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts
An irrevocable trust removes assets from your ownership, which can protect them from estate tax and from the cost of long-term care. A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) is designed so that, after New York’s five-year lookback, the home and other assets it holds are not counted for Medicaid nursing-home eligibility. For a Bensonhurst or Flatbush family whose main asset is the house, a MAPT can preserve the home from being spent down on care — but it must be funded at least five years before benefits are needed, so timing is everything.
Trust types at a glance
| Trust type | NY reference | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Revocable living trust | — | Probate avoidance, incapacity planning |
| Irrevocable trust / MAPT | — | Asset protection, Medicaid, estate tax |
| Supplemental (special) needs trust | EPTL 7-1.12 | Provide for a disabled beneficiary without losing benefits |
| Testamentary trust | Created in a will | Protects minors or spendthrift heirs after death |
A supplemental needs trust under EPTL 7-1.12 lets a Brooklyn family provide for a disabled child or sibling while preserving means-tested benefits like Medicaid and SSI.
Funding the trust — the step people skip
A trust controls only the assets actually transferred into it. An unfunded trust is just paper. Funding means re-titling the brownstone into the trust’s name, retitling bank and brokerage accounts, and updating beneficiary designations. The most common planning failure in Brooklyn is a beautifully drafted trust that was never funded — so the home still goes through Kings County probate.
Trustee duties under New York law
A trustee is a fiduciary held to the prudent investor standard under EPTL 11-2.3 — managing trust assets with care, loyalty, and reasonable diversification, and avoiding self-dealing. A trustee who mismanages the trust can be held personally accountable to the beneficiaries.
Key definitions
- Grantor: the person who creates and funds the trust (also called settlor or trustor).
- Trustee: the person or institution that holds and manages trust property.
- Beneficiary: the person who benefits from the trust.
- Corpus: the property held in the trust (also called the principal or trust res).
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a trust if I own a Brooklyn brownstone? Often yes. A revocable trust avoids the time and publicity of Kings County probate, and an irrevocable trust can protect an appreciated home from estate tax or long-term-care costs.
Does a revocable trust protect my home from Medicaid? No. Only an irrevocable trust funded before the five-year lookback offers Medicaid protection.
Will a trust save New York estate tax? A revocable trust will not; certain irrevocable trusts can. See estate taxes.
To plan a trust around your Brooklyn property, book a consultation with Russel Morgan. See also wills and estate taxes.