My dream to build an estate planning practice was born early in my law school career. My first trusts and estates class introduced me to a legal world where the most important and sensitive parts of our lives, our mortality, were front and center. I was excited about the prospect of working with families and […]

So you’ve done the responsible thing. You’ve prepared a last will to protect your family when you die. Great – now where do you keep it? For starters, somewhere your loved ones can find it. But which place is most safe yet accessible, convenient yet confidential? This article will discuss a few options clients have […]

As we had discussed in a prior article, a statutory short form durable power of attorney (“POA”) is an important document which every New Yorker should consider. To recap, a POA allows any agents you select, typically your spouse and/or children, to make financial decisions for you. This can be crucial if you are sick […]

In addition to the emotional and financial ramifications of a divorce, there are important estate planning implications for clients contemplating divorce or separation. Along with selling, dividing, and re-titling assets comes the necessity to reevaluate your estate plan. "Why?" you might ask. Here are a few important reasons to sit down with an estate planning […]

A significant portion of the assets we own are held jointly with another person. Almost anything, including real property, bank accounts, and investment accounts, can be, and often is, owned jointly. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand the various joint tenancies and their consequences. This article will deal with the three joint ownership […]

Almost everyone can draft their own will – just like most people can give themselves a haircut – but the question is should they. There are many websites and form books offering a do-it-yourself service, but should you use them? In this article, I will try to show what can (and did) go wrong with […]

A person who dies without a will in New York is said to have died intestate. If a person owned assets, they either pass automatically, such a joint accounts and accounts with beneficiary designations, or through a court process known as estate administration which is governed by New York's laws of intestacy, which are codified […]

As we discussed in the previous article, in order to avoid Medicaid liens and estate recovery, elder law clients would be well advised to learn about their rights to protect their homes. This is true whether they need Medicaid home care and wish to avoid estate recovery, or whether they are planning for nursing home […]

What would you do if you found out that your spouse completely disinherited you? Perhaps you are thinking about disinheriting your spouse in your estate plan. Is your spouse entitled to a portion of your inheritance? It is imperative to know your rights as well as your obligations under New York’s spousal right of election […]

Michael and Joan came in to my Queens estate planning office to re-draft estate planning documents that they had prepared over a decade ago. Their wills, like those of many married couples, left everything to each other. If one of them passed away first, the wills had mirroring provisions which left 10% of the estate […]