Part of every written plan
Tax-aware investing, with your CPA
Which accounts to save into and draw from, and when, set out as questions for the person who prepares your tax return.
What we will not claim
Your attorney drafts the will and your CPA prepares the return. A plan asks them the questions.
Where a plan stops and an attorney or an accountant starts, and why each question is written down for them.
AI-generated illustration. Not a real home or business.
What you will see advertised
“Wills, trusts and tax returns, all done in-house with your financial plan.”
Quoted in order to be refused: this practice never says it, and the rest of this page says why.
In New York only an attorney may be paid to prepare a will, and only a licensee may call themselves a CPA. A plan here lists what you own and the questions for your attorney and your CPA; it never drafts a document or prepares a return.
What the rules say
Each read against its source in October 2026.
- No one but an attorney may be paid for preparing a will or any other instrument affecting the disposition of property after death (Judiciary Law § 484).
- No one may hold themselves out as entitled to practice law, or use the title of lawyer or attorney, without being admitted (Judiciary Law § 478).
- Only a person licensed by New York may practice public accountancy or use the title certified public accountant or the designation CPA (Education Law § 7402).
The sources, to read in full:
What we say instead
Only a lawyer admitted in New York may be paid to prepare a will, or may give legal advice about one. The plan points out questions for your attorney; it never answers them.
The plan lists the questions about which accounts to use and when, for your CPA or whoever prepares your tax return. It is not tax advice, and the practice prepares no tax returns.
Only a person licensed in New York may call themselves a certified public accountant or a CPA, and nobody here is one. Where a plan touches a tax return, the question goes to yours.
- We do not draft wills or trusts, give legal advice or prepare tax returns.
Why planners' websites say it, and why it doesn't hold
One office for the plan, the will and the tax return sounds tidy, and a household that has put off all three would like to deal with them in one sitting. A page that lists them side by side makes them look like a single job.
The rules above keep paid work on the documents that decide what happens to property after a death for attorneys, keep the title of lawyer for people admitted to practice, and keep the letters CPA for nobody but a licensee. A plan can see where a will, a beneficiary form and the way an account is owned disagree; it cannot settle which one should win, because that is a legal question. And a plan can see that a decision touches a tax return; the tax return itself is the preparer's.
What a planning practice can honestly say, and do
What a plan can honestly do is list what a household owns and how each part would pass, and point out where that does not match what it was told:
A plan lists what you own and how each part would pass to somebody else: by a will, by a beneficiary named on an account, by owning it jointly. It notes where those don't match what you told us you want, and asks you to check your beneficiary forms against what your attorney's documents intend.
And when a household asks who to take those questions to, it can give a choice of names and take nothing from any of them:
If you ask, the practice gives you more than one name for an attorney, an accountant or an insurance professional, and takes nothing from any of them. You choose, and you may already have your own.
Part of every written plan
Insurance in your plan
Who depends on your income and what would happen if you could not work, written down as questions for a licensed professional.
Part of every written plan
Estate coordination with your attorney
A list of what you own and how each part would pass, and the questions for the attorney who drafts the documents.
What to ask any planner
Put them to any planner before you sign anything. A plain answer tells you something, and so does a vague one.
- Who drafts the documents, and is that person admitted in New York?
- Does anybody in your office call themselves a CPA, and are they one?
- Will you put the questions for my attorney and my accountant in writing?
- Who checks my beneficiary forms against my will?
- If you suggest an attorney or an accountant, are you paid anything for it?
The other things this site will not claim
Ask for a first meeting
A first meeting costs nothing, gives no advice and asks nothing of you afterwards: about forty-five minutes, at the office or by video. The office replies in office hours.