Many people assume that once a loved one passes away, the court automatically knows who their closest relatives are. That assumption is not always correct. In many New York estate matters, particularly where there is no surviving spouse or child, or where the closest relatives are more distant relations such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, or […]

Imagine settling into the role of beneficiary after a loved one passes, only to watch the months stretch into a year with no accounting, no distributions, and no answers from the person entrusted to close out the estate. I have sat across from families in exactly this position, watching an executor's silence turn a difficult […]

You have been named executor or administrator of a loved one's estate, and somewhere along the way, a beneficiary has asked you a simple but loaded question: “Where did the money go?” It is a fair question, and it is one I hear constantly from fiduciaries who suddenly realize that managing an estate means more […]