Although people started creating wills and thinking about post mortem asset distribution thousands of years ago, some aspects of estate planning are a great deal more current. While people have always been able to imagine and prepare for babies not yet conceived, anticipated marriages or unexpected deaths, it...
Knowing what to do when a loved one dies can alleviate some of the uncertainty and anxiety that normally follows. Of course, funeral arrangements must be made quickly and family members must be notified. One should order sufficient copies of the death certificate, as there may be a delay in obtaining additional copies later...
New York, like all states, provides legal protection for spouses, in terms of inheritance rights. The provisions largely originated from the problems which occurred when a husband would die, providing the bulk or all of his assets to a female companion, thus leaving his wife and children without support. Of course, things have changed,...
Parents often wish to put their children on their bank accounts and investment accounts for estate and disability planning purposes. Doing so is fraught with problems, as the child now becomes the legal owner of the account(s). Often overlooked is that by adding a child or children as joint owners on...
The mere mention of the word “probate” usually conjures up visions of extensive delays and enormous expense in settling the estate of a deceased person. Seminars promoting living trusts and articles and books written about them are persuasive, and they promote the misconception that probate is an evil to be avoided.
The truth is that...