I often receive phone calls from parents who want to leave money to a child, but who are worried about what will happen to it once it lands in that child's hands. Maybe there is a lawsuit hanging over them, an old debt to a credit card company, or a business that never quite got […]

What happens when an executor simply goes quiet after being appointed? A will is admitted to probate, letters are issued, and then months pass with no word from the executor about what is happening to the estate. Beneficiaries start to wonder whether they are being ignored, misled, or worse. The good news is that New […]

Many people assume that once the Surrogate's Court issues letters testamentary or letters of administration, the executor or administrator is free to start writing checks to the beneficiaries right away. That assumption is one of the most common and sometimes costly because distributing assets too soon can leave a fiduciary personally on the hook for […]

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 […]