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Most legal matters have built-in complexities. Anyone who has purchased a home, for example, can appreciate the mountain of paperwork will dense legalese that must be filled out . Things are only made more challenging where there are significant emotions tied up in the dealings–like when the home was owned…
Of the many estate planning lessons pulled for the tragic death of Philip Seymour Hoffman in New York last month is the need to properly update your documents. Hoffman’s will was drafted nearly ten years earlier. It had not been changed to reflect his new life circumstances, particularly the birth…
Nursing home horror stories abound, and everyone has likely heard some tale of seniors suffering neglect at a New York long-term care facility. It is for that reason that elder care advocates always suggest doing your homework before making a final decision about where to receive skilled nursing care. One…
Art Collector Disappointed Her Kids Don’t want her Collection: Makes Backup Plan A recent Wall Street Journal article discussed how estate plans protect art collections. The feature focused on a widowed woman with an art collection worth $250,000. The woman and her late husband traveled extensively and amassed the collectibles…
Messages about elder care, selecting a nursing home, securing Medicaid support, and similar matters are often directed not at the seniors themselves but their adult children. This is a cultural adaptation that recognizes the role that adult children play in caregiving for their parents. While the rate of child-caregivers may…
A quick Google search reveals about 10,000 articles providing 5, 10, 15, or more reasons why everyone needs an estate plan. While that makes a catchy headline, it may not be technically correct. After all, in most instances, it is impossible for minors under 18 years old to enter into…
Earlier this week we discussed the tragic death of New York actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. There are many estate planning lessons to take away for Hoffman’s situation, including the need to update a will after every life event. Hoffman unintentionally left out two of his children by not updating his…
New York State has the largest Medicaid system in the country. As most know, Medicaid is a joint state-federal program that provides healthcare to low-income residents. Unlike Medicare (which is a program exclusively for seniors based on their age), Medicaid is for all those who do not have enough assets…
Some New Yorkers eschew an estate plan because they assume their wishes are very simple. “I just want the kids to split it” is a common refrain. For one thing, default rules in the state do not automatically mean that children will split a parents’ assets. The only way to…
Property rights and rules are some of the most complex (and arcane) areas of the law. Of particular importance for estate planning purposes, property rules allow different individuals to each have different “interests” in the same piece of property. It is not necessarily as simple as one person owning each…