In the recent case of Leland House v. Webb, a husband initiated legal action against his deceased wife’s executor to quiet title of a property parcel. In response, the executor claimed that the transfer of the property was a gift rather than a sale. After the trial court ruled in…
While most of us are familiar with wills, many people in New York are not certain about the role played by other estate planning tools like guardianships. In short, a guardian refers to a person who makes decisions for another individual, who is not able to make decisions on their…
It’s a common occurrence. A person passes away and the terms of a will require that assets be evenly divided among family members. The deceased, however, forget to mention how personal assets should be divided. As a result, conflict arises among surviving loved ones about how these items should be…
It’s often the case that the most critical conversations are some of the most challenging ones to have. If you plan on discussing long term care with your parent or family member this year, it can help to be prepared. After all, this conversation will need to resolve many questions…
If you like murder mysteries and went to the movies this holiday season, there’s a good chance that you saw the film, Knives Out. So far, the film has brought in 70 million dollars in ticket sales and received substantial critical acclaim. Behind the story that makes this film intriguing…
Irrevocable trusts provide the trust’s creator with certain protections. Despite the advantages that these trusts provide, trust creators must give up any control over assets that are placed within the trust. This article reviews 4 important things you must remember about irrevocable trusts in case you intend on making them…
If you have a pet, you likely have a plan for the pet in place in case you go on vacation or out of town. You might even have created an estate plan to designate a certain person to take care of the pet in case something unexpectedly happens to…
A 401(k) rollover occurs when a person directs the transfer of the money in their retirement account to a new plan or IRA. The most common period when people decide to rollover 401(k) is when they either change jobs or retire. One of the most substantial challenges in rolling over…
Estate planning is a complex process. For many people, estate planning is overwhelming and results in many unanticipated costs. For other people, it is frightening to accept that they too will one day pass away. Despite how you might feel about estate planning, there are several important estate planning documents…
There are some surprising conclusions that people reach after creating an estate plan. For example, after putting the finishing touches on estate planning documents, some parents discover that they do not want to pass on an inheritance to the couple’s children. This is often not because the children have done…