When a client’s father passed away in his Manhattan apartment, he left behind a clear, well-drafted will. His daughter, named as the Executor, assumed she
A client sat in my Manhattan office last week with a straightforward goal. “Russel,” he said, “my daughter is trying to buy her first apartment.
When a family inherits a Brooklyn brownstone purchased by their parents in 1978 for $40,000, they rarely view themselves as heirs to a massive fortune.
A brownstone in Brooklyn has been in the family for three generations. When the owner passes, her three children—one in Manhattan, one in Florida, and
The Crucial Difference Between Nomination and Appointment When a father passes away in Brooklyn, leaving a perfectly drafted will that names his eldest daughter as
A nephew in Brooklyn is named trustee of his late aunt’s million-dollar trust. He’s honored, but also overwhelmed. He’s spending weekends fielding calls from beneficiaries,
A client once came to my office after his father, a successful Brooklyn business owner, died without a will. The father had always said, “You’re
I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count. A family comes to my office after a loved one has passed, holding a will
The call I dread most is not about a death. It’s about a crisis in the space between life and death. The call comes from
When a Brooklyn family finally sits down to move their childhood home into a revocable living trust, the first question I ask is simple: “Who
I once sat with a family in a hospital waiting room. Their father, a successful Manhattan real estate developer, was in a coma after a
A client recently told me about his father’s probate. The process dragged on for nearly two years in Surrogate’s Court, and every month, another legal
I once worked with a family whose grandfather had purchased a small brownstone in Brooklyn just after the war. He paid cash. He got a
An executive from our Manhattan office had a stroke during a business trip to Tokyo. Thousands of miles from home and unable to communicate, his
A client recently came into my Manhattan office with her late father’s will. Tucked inside was a handwritten note, dated and signed, stating he wanted
A client recently called my office in a panic. Her mother had just passed away in her Manhattan apartment, and my client, the named executor
A client recently came to my office with a shoebox. Inside was her late father’s will, a stack of unopened mail from the Kings County
A family in Brooklyn faces a common dilemma. Their parents have passed, leaving behind a valuable brownstone and an investment portfolio of nearly identical worth.
A family in Brooklyn is grieving. The sudden loss of a parent in a construction accident is devastating, but as the appointed executor of the
I often meet parents in my Manhattan office who are shocked to learn that the day their child with special needs turns 18, their legal
I once met with a family in Brooklyn whose father had done everything right—or so he thought. He had spent a considerable sum on a
When a Manhattan family loses a parent whose only estate planning document was a simple will, they often assume the transfer of assets will be
When an elderly parent passes away in their home, the family’s first call is often to us. After the initial shock and grief, the conversation
When a widowed father in Brooklyn quietly files a quitclaim deed transferring his brownstone to his three adult children, he usually thinks he has outsmarted
When a Brooklyn family loses a father who purchased a brownstone in 1985, they often assume the property will pass automatically to their mother. They
I often meet families who believe a simple will is a complete estate plan. A recent case comes to mind—a couple from Long Island who
When a Manhattan executor sits down at a dining room table with a stack of death certificates and an address book, the next steps dictate
I once sat with a client, a retired shipping executive from Brooklyn, as we finalized his will. He was a man who had spent his
A client recently came to our Manhattan office with a common story. His mother, living alone in her Brooklyn home, was starting to have trouble
When a Manhattan patriarch decides to remove a problematic beneficiary from his living trust, he might assume a crossed-out name and a margin note will
