A client recently came to our Manhattan office holding a document from the Surrogate’s Court. Her husband had passed away. While she knew he had
Imagine a client of ours from Brooklyn suffers a sudden stroke. She’s in the hospital, unable to speak or sign her name. Her mortgage payment
A diagnosis of early-onset dementia for a parent in their late 60s can send a shockwave through a Brooklyn family. They’ve spent decades building a
I recently met with a family from Queens whose father had just been diagnosed with a condition that would soon require skilled nursing care. They
I often sit with clients who were a committed couple for a decade before they could legally marry in New York. They built a life
A Manhattan widow in her late seventies recently sat across from my desk, terrified that the future cost of long-term care might wipe out the
I once worked with a family in Brooklyn whose father had passed away suddenly. Weeks after the funeral, they located his will. Inside, among the
A client sat in my office last week with a question I hear often. He’d spent thirty years building a successful consulting practice here in
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
A client—a tech executive in Manhattan with a family home in the city and a weekend place on Long Island—recently asked me, “Russel, my will
A family often arrives at my office with a will signed by their late mother. It names one of the adult children as the executor.
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent who never formalized their intentions, the mourning process is quickly interrupted by the rigid machinery of Surrogate’s Court.
A diagnosis of dementia arrives without an appointment. For a family in Brooklyn, this news can turn their world upside down in an afternoon. They
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
I’ve seen it happen more than once. A family arrives from Brooklyn with a will their father downloaded from a website for twenty dollars. He
When a Manhattan family loses a parent who relied solely on a basic will, the next nine to twelve months generally belong to Surrogate’s Court.
A few months after her aunt passed away, a client came to my office. She knew she was a beneficiary in the will—her aunt had
A new executor walks out of the Kings County Surrogate’s Court holding Letters Testamentary. This document gives them legal authority over a loved one’s estate.
Three siblings inherit a multi-family brownstone in Brooklyn. For decades, the parents assumed the children would manage the property together, sharing the rental income and
A client recently sat in my Manhattan office, holding a will her father had signed fifteen years ago. He had named his brother—her uncle, who
When a Manhattan family discovers their father’s signed will in a safety deposit box, they usually assume the hardest part is over. They take the
When a Manhattan family with heavily concentrated real estate holdings loses a patriarch, the immediate crisis is rarely a lack of total wealth. The crisis
As trusted legal advisors in matters of estate planning and asset protection, questions surrounding the tax implications of trusts often arise. In this article, we
A son calls me from his father’s bedside at a hospital in Manhattan. His dad has suffered a fall, and the doctors are saying he
When a sibling steps up to manage a parent’s estate, the first few weeks are predictably consumed by grief and immediate logistics. Fast forward eight
Last year, we took a call from a family in Brooklyn. Their father had suffered a severe stroke and was unable to communicate. He had
A couple buys a home in Brooklyn in their twenties. Twenty years and a divorce later, one name must come off the deed. In another
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent, the transition of wealth rarely resembles the cinematic trope of a lawyer reading a document to a gathered
I often sit with couples who have spent decades building a life together. They own a home in Westchester, share investment accounts, and have children
A client—a third-generation owner of a family business in New York—once asked me, “Russel, can we make this dynasty trust revocable? I want to keep
