New York Estate Planning, Probate, and Real Estate Lawyer

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…

Even though most people think about wills when they think about estate planning, there are many other tools available which are just as if not more effective to use. One of the most common devices used is called a trust. Essentially, a trust is a device that allows individuals to control the distribution of their…

If you recently lost a loved one and need to probate their estate or you are ready to establish an estate plan, you need to find a good probate lawyer, someone you can trust. The internet is a good place to start. But how do you select the right estate attorney from the listings? Here…

In a little publicized court case from 2013, the New York Court of Appeals upheld three murder convictions of people who drove either drunk or on drugs. The three appealed the convictions based on the premise they were too out of it to show a depraved indifference to human life. The three cases all happened…

Before we get into the meat of the story, a little background on “mute swans.”In 2013, The New York State Bureau of Wildlife issued Draft Management Plan for Mute Swans in New York State, 2013 . The report says that Mute swans can cause a variety of problems, including aggressive behavior towards people, destruction of…

The increasing gentrification of Brooklyn neighborhoods is transforming court cases in Kings County. The influx of rich, white people has changed the economic and racial make up of juries. The percentage of white people in Brooklyn grew from 41 percent to 50 percent between 2000 and 2015This is good news for prosecutors and bad news…