Estate Administration & Probate

When you die, you want as much of your property as possible to pass on to the people you love. You likely have strong feelings about which loved ones should receive certain assets from your estate. Creating an estate plan gives you control over the distribution of...

Disputes about the contents of an estate or the terms of a last will among beneficiaries are relatively common. Still, most of these disputes primarily affect family and interpersonal relationships, rather than the legal administration of someone's estate. However,...

Estate planning is something people often put off because they don't want to pay for it and they consider the whole process unpleasant. Some people might try to speed through estate planning by downloading documents off of the internet and filling them out to create a...

Most people think that estate planning just involves making a last will. Some people see the value in a living will that protects them if they become medically incapacitated. Far fewer people understand how valuable asset protection planning is.   Often a part of...

You and your siblings have grown up and moved all over the country. You all still keep in touch, of course, but there’s a lot of distance between you. Your parents still live in your childhood home, though, and it becomes something of a touchstone for all of you.   As...

Every year, there are celebrities who pass away. Those celebrities sometimes don’t have wills, and their life story reaches the media as family or friends attempt to obtain what they think they should as beneficiaries of the estate. Having money, being wealthy, being...

Losing a loved one can cause a great deal of grief, and this is not something that just goes away overnight. It may take months or even years for you to fully process the passing of your loved ones, and you will go through different stages of grief during this time....

Estate planning is especially challenging for wealthy people in New York and around the country. You could have dozens or even hundreds of high-value properties that you want to pass along to your loved ones. If you don't plan your estate carefully, federal and state...

Sometimes, heirs of a decedent may wish to contest the probate of a will. This usually occurs when heirs would be entitled to more of a decedent's assets if there were no will than the actual will bequeaths them. Individuals in New York and other jurisdictions should...

New York residents die intestate when they pass away without leaving behind a last will and testament. In these situations, state law determines how their assets will be distributed. Before this happens, a person must be appointed to administer the estate. This is...