Articles Posted in Probate

Last month we posted a video story about how in a Michigan county, the probate administrator was in cahoots with real estate lawyers and they were “stealing” properties from legal heirs, legally. Now some new laws, endorsed by the State Attorney General Bill Schuette are poised to reform the Public Administrator law. Recent actions by…

In her will, Bronx widow Ellen Frey-Wouters left $300,000 to Troy and Tiger, her two cats. Her will instructed the money be used to make sure they would “never be caged” and always be lovingly cared for. The New York Post quotes Dahlia Grizzleto, a former health aide Frey-Wouters and now caretaker of the cats…

The investigative unit of a Detroit TV station uncovered some real shenanigans by the probate public administrator who stole people’s inheritances…legally.

In New York State, probate can take from 7-9 months. While that can seem like an eternity, in Ireland it can take up to 16 months. A recent report by the life insurance company, Royal London found crippling delays in the Irish probate process which have caused financial hardships on many families. This delay can…

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…

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…

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…