Naomi Becker Collier

As co-chair of the firm's Trusts & Estates and Elder Law & Special Needs Planning practices, Naomi Becker Collier addresses the specific legal and financial needs of individuals and families at various life stages. She recommends reviewing and modifying estate plans throughout her clients’ lives to account for changes in the laws and in their personal circumstances. Through estate and lifetime planning, elder law counseling, asset preservation planning, special needs planning, planning for incapacity, trust and estate administration, and conservatorships and guardianships, Naomi’s goal is to provide clients and their families with peace of mind.

Naomi works with clients of all ages to plan ahead, including newly legal adults, married couples, parents, spouses in divorce, aging individuals, dependents with special needs and the families who care for them. Known for her compassionate and knowledgeable approach, Naomi provides practical guidance and education, appreciating her clients’ individual needs, emotions and challenges. She aims to maximize planning options available and implement strategies to achieve each specific goal with an eye on compassion, thoroughness and flexibility. Education is critical to planning ahead, and Naomi frequently speaks to communities to demystify the terminology of estate planning and administration, elder law, and special needs planning and to empower people to understand the laws and protections available to minors, adults, owners of family businesses, seniors, and individuals with special needs, illness and/or disability.

Trusts & Estates

Naomi’s trusts and estates practice focuses on planning for disability, asset protection, including transfers during life and after death to match the specific goals of each client. Naomi works with clients on preparing important legal documents including general durable powers of attorney, health care proxies, living wills and health care directives for themselves and members of their families. In planning for wealth preservation and thoughtful transfer of wealth, Naomi utilizes tax minimization strategies, including charitable planning, and prepares and reviews complex wills, revocable trusts, and irrevocable trusts. With sensitivity and candor, Naomi consults with clients and develops a proactive plan for the potential challenges ahead.

Depending on her clients’ specific needs, Naomi works closely with the firm’s attorneys in the family law, corporate, real estate, and litigation practices, and coordinates with outside advisors.

Naomi also advises clients on trust and estate administration. She provides counsel and guidance to fiduciaries and beneficiaries alike, and helps them to understand their obligations and rights, both during the course of an uneventful administration as well as during a dispute. 

Elder Law & Special Needs Planning

Naomi’s focus on Elder Law includes all of the above services as well as planning for and maximizing her clients’ eligibility for government benefits, including planning and applications for Medicaid. In addition, she advises clients on issues related to guardianship and long-term care planning.

Naomi also works with families with dependents with special needs to develops plans so that family members, during their lives and after their deaths, can protect and support their dependents with special needs, including guardianship planning and creating supplemental needs trusts. Naomi has significant experience counseling families with minor and adult children with special needs to plan for lifetime care and support, as well as options available to a child in the event of a family member’s own incapacity.

Naomi’s focus on trusts and estates planning and administration, elder law, and special needs planning effectively and purposefully combines these related, yet unique, areas of the law to promote the best quality of life for her clients and their families. 

In Naomi's Words:

"Discussing the future can be challenging, whether it’s telling the 18-year-old college student about healthcare proxies, advising parents on protecting their special needs child upon their deaths, or planning medical care for an aging parent. My goal as a Trusts & Estates and Elder Law attorney is to offer counsel, compassion, and flexibility to my clients and their families. I enjoy working through the nuances and planning options available to individuals, parents, business owners, fiduciaries, and young adults, as they decide how they would like to memorialize their wishes, at all stages of life. In some situations, the choices can be difficult and sensitive, involving long term care needs and end of life decisions, or planning for dependents with special needs, and guardianship decisions. Contemplating significant decisions can be hard, but by understanding what is important to each individual, I can help institute the plans that will safeguard and provide for the people most important in their lives.”

Blog Posts

Community & Professional

• Member, New Jersey State Bar Association, Elder and Disability Law Section
• Member, Bergen County Bar Association
• Member, Women Lawyers in Bergen County
• Member, Greater New Jersey Estate Planning Council
• Member, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
• Member, District Ethics Committee for District XI
• Former Board Member, Alpine Learning Group