A young man from Brooklyn recently came into our office. His grandfather left him a significant inheritance in a trust, but the trustee—his aunt—refused to
A few months ago, a client came to our Manhattan office. Her mother had recently passed away, and while sorting through her affairs, she discovered
A few years ago, the wife of a Brooklyn construction worker came to my office. Her husband had survived a catastrophic fall, but his life—and
When a Queens family loses a parent who left the family home in her sole name, the next nine to twelve months belong to Surrogate’s
I recently sat with a couple in my Manhattan office who had built a successful business over 30 years. They had one child, a son
I recently met with a couple from Brooklyn who had just welcomed their first child. Amid the joy and exhaustion, a nagging thought brought them
A client from Manhattan came to our office recently with a common concern. He wanted to set up trusts for his two adult children, but
Years ago, you added your daughter to the deed of your Manhattan co-op. It seemed like a straightforward way to handle your legacy—a simple transfer
I’ve seen it happen more than once. A family in Brooklyn comes to my office holding a document their father printed from the internet. It
A client came to my office last month with what she thought was a simple plan. She wanted to give her Brooklyn brownstone—the home she’d
I once worked with a family whose patriarch, a successful Brooklyn business owner, had set up a trust for his three adult children. While he
A Manhattan executive suffers a severe medical event on a Tuesday morning. By Wednesday, his spouse realizes she cannot access his individual brokerage accounts, cannot
I recently met with a business owner in Manhattan who was creating a trust to hold his company shares for his two children. “I’ll be
An executor for a parent’s estate in Brooklyn is sorting through a lifetime of paperwork. Among the bank statements and the will, they find a
I often sit down with families who have a will and believe their planning is complete. They’ve named an executor and listed who gets the
A few years ago, a client came to our office in a quiet panic. His mother had recently passed away in the Brooklyn home she’d
A business owner in Brooklyn dies suddenly. He leaves behind a spouse, two children from a previous marriage, and a portfolio of real estate—but no
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent who left the family home to three children in “equal shares,” that parent usually assumed the siblings would
A client recently came to my Manhattan office with a difficult problem. Her father had passed away, and while he left a will, he never
A family in Brooklyn gets the call no one is ever prepared for. Their mother has passed away. In the days that follow, between grief
After her aunt passed away, a client from Brooklyn called me. She and her aunt had been very close. For years, her aunt had said,
A client sat in my Madison Avenue office last week, pointed to a line in his financial advisor’s report, and asked, “Russel, it says here
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent who never signed a will, bureaucratic reality immediately interrupts the grieving process. The next nine to eighteen months
A client recently sat in my office, turning her wedding band on her finger. Her husband had passed away nearly a year ago, and she
A few years ago, a new client came to our Manhattan office with a will her father had created using a popular online service. He
A family in Brooklyn finds their father’s will tucked away in a safe deposit box. Relief washes over them. They believe this document is the
When a Manhattan widower decides to remove an estranged sibling from his estate, the most common instinct is often the most destructive. He pulls his
A client from Brooklyn recently came to my office, frustrated and confused. Her mother had passed, leaving a perfectly valid will that named her as
A married couple sits at a kitchen table in Brooklyn to map out what happens after they are gone. They have been married for thirty
A prospective client recently sat in my Manhattan office and asked a very common question: “How much does a will cost?” It’s a fair question,
