New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

A Quick Guide to New York MOLST Forms

Published on: October 28, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

One of the common responses that many people have as they learn about estate planning is that there are a number of estate planning documents. In addition to things like wills, living wills, advance directives and powers of attorney, there also also a number of other important documents.

In New York there are Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) forms. This article briefly reviews what MOLST forms do and situations where you might need one of these documents.

The Role of MOLST Forms

Mistakes to Avoid When Establishing Trusts, Part 1

Published on: October 28, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

We’ve been examining adding a revocable (a/k/a living or inter vivos) trust or irrevocable trust to your estate plan. Trust instruments are an important part of your estate plan, particularly if you have a spouse and young children you wish to provide for upon your death. When mistakes are made, in establishing or setting-up a trust, the errors are borne by your survivors.

When problems arise in trusts they tend to involve issues with trust funding, policy titling, and beneficiary designations. When neglected these issues have their way of creeping into the lives of your loved one and will require significant amounts of money and time being spent that could have otherwise been avoided. What follows is a primer on the top 4 scenarios your survivors will need to get through to correct any problems associated with trust funding, policy titling, and beneficiary designation.

No. 1 – Avoiding probate

Advice from Sveen v. Melin on the Importance of Beneficiary Designations

Published on: October 25, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In 1997, Ashley Sveen purchased a life insurance policy. Later that year, Ashley married Kaye Melin and named Melin as primary beneficiary on his life insurance policy. Sveen also named his two adult children as contingent beneficiaries.

Several years later, Minnesota amended its revocation on divorce. Sveen and Melin divorced in 2007, but Sveen never changed the beneficiary designation on his life insurance policy. After Sveen passed away in 2001, the insurance company that held the policy requested a court make a judgment on whether Melin or Sveen’s children should receive benefits from the policy.

The United States District Court of Minnesota then granted summary judgment for the Sveen children and awarded them life insurance proceeds. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded this decision. Subsequently, the court found that the policyholder’s ability to opt out of the law by redesignating his former wife as the beneficiary of the policy did not resolve the issue.

Lessons from Groucho Marx: Reducing the Risk of Elder Abuse

Published on: October 23, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

By the time that the legendary screen actor and comedian Groucho Marx became a senior citizen, he had a difficult time making a number of decisions regarding his daily life.

During this time, Marx’s companion, Erin Fleming, was accused of elder abuse and experienced a deterioration in his relationship with Marx’s children. This was made complex by Fleming’s decision to push Marx to perform. Later, after Marx became incapacitated, Fleming was appointed as guardian and temporary conservator of Marx’s valuable estate. Marx’s grandson was later named permanent conservator.

Following Marx’s death, the fight for assets from the late legend’s estate continued on for years. A judge later resolved the debate in favor of Groucho’s children and ordered Fleming to repay a large amount that she had stolen from Marx’s bank accounts.

Estate Planning Challenges Faced by Unmarried Couples

Published on: October 21, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Statistics show there are an increasing number of older individuals who are divorcing later on in life. There is also an increasing number of individuals who are discovering that living together as an unmarried couple has its advantages.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the number of unmarried individuals who are older than 50 even increased by 75% between 2007 and 2016.

Unfortunately, however, living together as an unmarried couple creates a number of unique estate planning challenges. This article reviews some of these hurdles.

Estate Planning and Cryptocurrency

Published on: October 16, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The introduction of cryptocurrency has created a number of new issues, which includes how these digital assets should be addressed in a person’s estate plan. Because the Internal Revenue Service has classified cryptocurrency as property capable of being taxes, it is possible to dictate how ownership of cryptocurrency should be passed in a person’s estate plan. In many cases, however, it can prove difficult to transfer ownership of cryptocurrency without creating a potential security risk.

The Estate Planning Challenges Presented by Cryptocurrency

A person’s ownership of cryptocurrency is represented in that individual’s virtual “wallet”, which also stores the owners’ credentials and interacts with blockchains so users can both send and receive cryptocurrency. Consequently, the person who knows the access credentials to a virtual wallet has access to any cryptocurrency that is contained in the wallet.

4 Pieces of Advice on Selecting an Executor

Published on: October 15, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

After the devastation of accepting the loss of a loved one subsides, it can be challenging to determine how to best process. Unless you have navigated this process before, performing the various tasks asked of an executor can seem overwhelming.

As a result, this article reviews some pieces of advice that will make the selection of an executor easier.

# 1 – Understand the Role of an Executor

How to Deal with Out-of-State Assets in an Estate Plan

Published on: October 12, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

It is not uncommon in our region for people to own real property outside of New York State. Increasingly, people own other home or investment properties out of state and even out of the country. A will generally disposes of all of an individual’s assets. The rules are different however if the asset is real property. There are three rules to keep in mind and carefully consider when dealing with assets outside of New York as part of your estate planning process.

Consider the following rules when drafting or revising your will:

If the out of state asset is real property it is vital to develop your estate plan in conjunction with the law in that locality. Real estate assets are governed by the laws of the country or state in which they are situated. This means that the law of the other locality will determine if the New York will is recognized as valid there with respect to the real property.

Estate Planning and Alzheimer’s

Published on: October 8, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, you and your loved one will end up facing a number of serious challenges.

For one, there are a number of difficult emotions including fear and uncertainty about what the future holds. Second, there are a number of complex issues involving estate planning.

As a result, this article reviews some important estate planning tips that you should remember following an Alzheimer’s diagnosis of a loved one.

Safeguarding Estate Planning Documents

Published on: October 8, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Clients call this law firm asking for a copy of their will or other estate planning documents because they cannot locate the original all of the time. Our first response is to tell them that if they cannot find the original document, then they do not really have a will. In New York, only a document bearing the original signature of the testator and witnesses can be submitted to probate. While a photocopy or electronic copy of the document may exist, it is not the original and will be rejected by the Surrogate’s Court when seeking to have an estate probated. It is not until the loved person becomes admitted at the hospital under an emergency or that person passes that those left behind start the search for estate planning documents. Another overlooked catastrophic event is damage or loss of estate planning documents after a natural disaster.

Domestic weather events, including nor’easters, tropical storms, and hurricanes often bring a great deal of water to the shorelines and shore communities of New York State. Emergency plans should include provisions for the preservation of estate planning documents. When people are asked or ordered to evacuate their homes, because of emergency weather conditions, they often only leave with the clothes on their backs and their loved ones. Not all temporary shelters for example, allow people to bring their pets with them and many times the pets stay behind. The last thing on peoples’ mind, when evacuating their homes, is collecting and preserving estate planning documents.

What are estate planning documents?