A well drafted and implemented estate plan can accomplish a wide range of inter-connected goals that go way beyond simply planning for the distribution of your estate assets after you are gone. Knowing that, selecting an estate planning attorney to help you wish that plan should be done with care. At Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. we are committed to helping you create a Woodstock, Connecticut estate plan that accomplishes all of those goals, including the protection of both your material wealth and your loved ones.
Woodstock, Connecticut
The town of Woodstock, Connecticut covers almost 62 square miles, making it the second largest city in the state. Located in Windham County, the town’s population was 7,964 at the 2010 Census. Woodstock is actually made up of six distinct villages: South Woodstock, Woodstock Hill, North Woodstock, East Woodstock, West Woodstock, and Woodstock Valley.
Woodstock was the site of one of several mid-17th century “Praying Towns” established by John Eliot, a Puritan missionary to the American Indians. Prating towns used to get Native Americans to renounce their own spiritual beliefs, religious ceremonies, and traditions in favor of Christianity. Wabaquasset (Senexet, Wabiquisset), the largest of the Connecticut Praying Towns, was located six miles west of the Quinebaug River in what we now consider the town of Woodstock. When King Philip’s War broke out in 1675, the Praying Town became deserted, allowing the English to march through Woodstock, burning crops and stored corn along the way.
What would eventually become the town of Woodstock was originally part of a purchase from the Mohegans by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1682. The town was first settled in 1686 and named New Roxbury. The name change to Woodstock was suggested in 1690 because of its proximity to Oxford, Massachusetts. In 1749 the town seceded and became part of the Connecticut Colony.
For the next two centuries, Woodstock would grow from a predominantly rural, farming community to a more urban, industrial town – and then revert back to a rural community once again. Woodstock would eventually become a favored summer vacation destination for wealthy city dwellers from the nearby New England states.
Henry C. Bowen was a Woodstock native who became wealthy through the dry-goods business and publishing in Brooklyn, New York. Toward the end of the 19th century, Bowen hosted Independence Day celebrations in Woodstock at Roseland Park, his summer home. His 4th of July celebrations, complete with speeches from prominent politicians of the day, fireworks, and pink lemonade, attracted as many as 10,000 guests and earned him the nickname “Mr. Fourth of July.” Among the guests to Roseland Park were Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, Henry Ward Beecher, and John C. Fremont. Bowen eventually gave Roseland Park, which included a man-made lake, to the community.
Visitors to Woodstock will want to tour Roseland Park, also known as the “Pink House.” It is referred to as such because the outside walls, of board and batten wood siding, have been painted 13 different colors over the past 150 years—all shades of pink. The home is an example of Victorian Gothic Revival style, which can be seen in its pointed gables, scrolled bargeboards, many tall chimneys, and leaded glass windows in diamond shapes. Amazingly, the owners’ original furniture and knickknacks can still be found inside the home. Fine Homebuilding magazine named Roseland one of the 25 most important houses in America in its 2006 “Fine Homebuilding Houses Annual Issue.”
Considered part of the “Quiet Corner,” Woodstock is known for its “tranquility, history and pastoral good looks,” according to the guidebook 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. The town also has more operating dairy farms than any other town in Connecticut as well as numerous craft shops, antique shops, and restaurants.
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. in the Woodstock Community
Creating a comprehensive and cohesive estate plan today provides you with the assurance of knowing that everything and everyone that matters to you will be protected for many years to come. The estate planning attorneys at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. are committed to helping our friends and neighbors in the Woodstock, Connecticut community create an estate plan that protects and grows your assets while you are alive as well as ensuring that those assets continue to provide for loved ones when you are gone.
Estate planning is not something that is accomplished in one sitting. In fact, your estate plan is something that should change and evolve with you throughout the course of your lifetime. For this reason, it is imperative that you choose your estate planning attorney with care and that you develop a successful working relationship with your attorney. Your initial estate plan will undoubtedly be rather simplistic, and may consist of nothing more than a simple Last Will and Testament. That simple Will, however, will begin to seem inadequate if you get married and/or become a parent. The same applies as your estate assets grow over the years. The more you have to protect, the more complex your estate plan will need to become. Marriage may cause you to want to make changes to your beneficiary designations within your plan, as will become a parent. You may also want your new spouse to take over fiduciary roles within your plan, such as Executor, Agent, or Trustee. The desire to provide for a minor child may prompt the addition of a trust to your plan because your child cannot inherit directly from your estate. Having a family should prompt you to worry about the possibility of your own incapacity and the need to include incapacity planning in your overall estate plan as well. The growth both in size and value of your estate assets may also call for the inclusion of asset protection as well as probate and tax avoidance strategies to your plan. As retirement looms on the horizon, long-term care and Medicaid planning should be incorporated into your estate plan unless you can afford the high cost of long-term care out of pocket. If you have strong beliefs with regard to end of life care, a living Will and/or an advance directive should also be part of your estate plan. Funeral and burial planning should also be included in your estate plan if you want to ensure that your wishes are honored after you are gone. Your unique needs, such as LGBTQ estate planning, business succession planning, or special needs planning will also be incorporated into your estate plan to create a unique plan that reflects your needs and accomplishes all your goals.
Our goal at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is to be with you throughout your life’s journey and help ensure that the people and things that are important to you are protected at all times.
Contact Us
If you have additional questions or concerns about estate planning, or wish to get started on your plan, contact the experienced Woodstock, Connecticut estate planning lawyers at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. by calling (860) 548-1000 to schedule an appointment.
