Articles Posted in Wills & Trusts

Sometimes you just don’t know who a person really is until after the die. Here are some odd codicils to wills. Attorney T.M. Zink ,an Iowa lawyer who died in 1930, left his daughter only five dollars and his wife got zilch. He stipulated that the rest of his $100,000 estate be put in a…

A son suspected of stabbing to death his mother and sister at their $2 million home had been cut out of the family’s fortune just weeks earlier.The son, Joshua Cohen, 27, was arrested on Saturday after his mother Leah, 66, and sister Hannah, 33 were found murdered in their home London last Friday. Police described…

One of the most important tools in estate planning is a trust. A trust allows the settlor—or the creator of the trust—to control the distribution of his property either during his lifetime or after his death. The trustee, is tasked with holding the property for the beneficiary’s benefit and distributing that property in accordance with…

A petition for probate of actress Carrie Fisher’s will was filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and the sole beneficiary is her 24 year-old daughter Billie Lourd. Lourd is expected to receive 100 percent interest in both Carrie Fisher Properties LLC and Carrie Fisher Online LLC; a life insurance policy with Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance…

Improvements in health care have contributed to a longer and healthier life. But longer life expectancy is counteracted with the problems that aging carries, especially in the health area; two of these are dementia and Alzheimer’s. Mental incapacity is becoming an increasingly cited reason for a relative being excluded from a will, so being of…

The New York Law Journal reports that Kings County Surrogate John Ingram barred a caregiver turned wife of a man with dementia from testifying about whether she may exercise her spousal right of election in the matter of her late husband’s estate. Irving Berk, who died in 2006, left a five million dollar estate to…

The biggest problem confronting executors and administrator is locating missing assets.All searches can be broken down three (3) categories: (A) Direct searches (B) Professional searches (C) Private investigator searches. A. The direct search consists of: Searching the decedent’s papers, bank records and safe deposit box. Today you will need a court order to search a…

Handwritten wills are known as holographic wills in New York State. So are they legal? Short answer is yes, but only under certain circumstances. In New York State, they are only valid if they are made by members of the armed services during an armed conflict. The handwritten will must be entirely in the testator’s…

When making plans to secure assets for loved ones after death, it is important to know what processes your property are subject to, and how you can take control of your property now so as to have it distributed upon your death in a manner you prefer. To begin with, there are a few terms…

When playwright Edward Albee died last September at the age of 88, he had one final request. He wanted his executors, Arnold Toren, and William Katz, to destroy any unfinished manuscripts. Both men are longtime friends of the playwright. In his 2012 will, he requests that “If at the time of my death I shall…