The Law Office of Nicole Israel, PLLC

07/08/2026

I was quoted in Newsday this week! 📰
The article covers Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts (MAPTs), which is one of the most important tools I talk to families about — especially if your parents own a home and might need long-term care down the road.
A few things from the piece that stuck with me:
• Nursing home care on Long Island can run up to $20,000/month.
• The Medicaid asset limit is just over $33,000 — a number almost any homeowner surpasses immediately.
• A MAPT has to be set up years before care is needed, because of a 5-year “look-back” period.
My advice, as always: don’t wait until there’s a crisis. The families who plan early are the ones who keep their options open.
You can read the full article here: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/li-life/medicaid-asset-protection-trust-long-island-s4c08p1r?utm_medium=web_share_api&utm_campaign=web_share_api
If you have questions about protecting your family’s home, feel free to reach out — happy to talk it through.

"Just about anyone who owns a home on Long Island should consider" a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, one attorney said.

07/02/2026

Nobody likes this question. I'm going to answer it anyway, because not knowing is worse.

If both parents pass away without a guardianship plan, the court steps in.

Family members can petition. Sometimes more than one.

If there's disagreement, your children could be in the middle of a custody dispute — during the worst moment of their lives.

A judge who never met you decides based on what's presented in court that day.

One document changes this. It puts your wishes in writing, on record, ahead of time.

This isn't about fear. It's about making sure your voice is the one that's heard. Waitlist open — link in bio.

This is the question every parent avoids — so I'm answering it directly.

Without a guardianship plan, the court decides who raises your children if you can't. Family members can petition. If there's disagreement, kids can end up at the center of a custody dispute during an already devastating time.

A guardianship nomination puts YOUR voice on record, ahead of time. That's the whole point of HerTrust.

Waitlist open. Link in bio. https://hertrustwaitlist.carrd.co/

07/01/2026

Quick legal fact most parents don't know:

A will and a guardianship nomination are not always the same document.

Some parents think one will covers everything.

Depending on your state and how the document is drafted, your guardianship wishes may need to be specifically and clearly stated — not just assumed to be included.

The fix: make sure your guardianship nomination is its own clear, specific document — not a footnote.

This is exactly the gap HerTrust is built to close. Waitlist open — link in bio.

Your guardianship wishes deserve their own clear, specific document — not a footnote.

Waitlist for HerTrust is open: https://hertrustwaitlist.carrd.co/

06/30/2026

If you only do ONE thing this month, do this.

Not a will. Not a trust.

A guardianship nomination.
It's the document that says: 'If I can't raise my child, here's exactly who should.'

Without it, a court decides — and they don't know your family the way you do.

With it, your voice is on record. That's it. That's the whole point.

Want help getting started? Waitlist is open — link in bio.

Save this so you remember the first step.

06/30/2026

3 things every parent should do this week:

1. Write down who you'd want to raise your kids — even just in your Notes app for now.
2. Tell that person directly. Don't assume they know.
3. Talk to your spouse or co-parent about it — out loud, not just 'someday.'
4. None of these cost a dollar. All three move you closer to a real plan.

5. When you're ready to make it official, that's what HerTrust is for. Waitlist open — https://hertrustwaitlist.carrd.co/

06/28/2026

After helping hundreds of families with this exact planning, here's what I've learned:

1. The families who finish their plan don't feel sadder afterward. They feel lighter.

2. Almost every parent tells me the same thing: 'I wish I'd done this sooner. It wasn't as bad as I thought.'

3. The hardest part was never the paperwork. It was sitting down to start.

4. That's the exact problem HerTrust is solving — making the starting part simple.

5. Waitlist is open. Link here: https://hertrustwaitlist.carrd.co/

After hundreds of families and this exact planning process, here's the pattern I see every time: the families who finish their plan feel lighter, not sadder.

The paperwork was never the hard part. Starting was.

That's exactly what we're fixing with HerTrust — making the starting part simple. Waitlist open.

06/27/2026

1. Unpopular opinion: the baby registry is not the first checklist new parents need.
2. Before the stroller. Before the crib. Before the 47-piece swaddle set.
3. You need to know who raises your child if you can't.
4. That's not a baby item. That's a 20-minute conversation and one document.
5. Registries are fun. This is foundational.
6. Both matter. But only one of them protects your child if the unthinkable happens.

Before the swaddles and the stroller comparisons — know who raises your child if you can't. That's the actual first item on the list.

Agree? Disagree? Tell me in the comments.

06/26/2026

This one surprises almost every parent I talk to: your spouse doesn't automatically get full authority over everything, and if both parents are gone, a judge — not you — decides who raises your kids.

A guardianship plan fixes this. It's faster to complete than most people think.

Waitlist is open. Link here: https://hertrustwaitlist.carrd.co/

06/26/2026

Let's retire this one for good: estate planning isn't a 'rich people' thing.

If you have a child — any income, any net worth — you need to know who raises them if something happens to you. That's not about money. That's about love, made legally official.

Waitlist open. Link here: https://hertrustwaitlist.carrd.co/

Tag a parent who needs to hear this.

06/24/2026

1. I had my first baby during the height of COVID.
2. I was an estate planning attorney. I'd written hundreds of guardianship plans for other families.
3. I didn't have one for mine.
4. Hospitals weren't letting anyone in. I remember thinking: if something happens to me, does my husband even know what I'd want?
5. That question never left me.
6. So I built the thing I wished every parent had — simple enough to actually finish.
7. It's called HerTrust. Waitlist is open — https://hertrustwaitlist.carrd.co/

I've helped hundreds of families write their plan. I didn't have my own until I almost needed one.

That's the gap HerTrust is built to close — attorney-drafted protection that doesn't take a law degree (or a free weekend) to finish.

Waitlist is open. Link in bio.