When a Manhattan business founder dies leaving behind unreleased products, trademarks, and a fragmented family, the ensuing nine months in Surrogate’s Court determine whether that
When a Manhattan family discovers their father’s will was last updated in 1998, the ensuing months in Surrogate’s Court are rarely peaceful. By the time
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent, the named executor often assumes their first task is walking into the local bank with a death certificate
When a Brooklyn family discovers their father’s primary asset was a multi-family property held solely in his name, the immediate question is rarely about the
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 a Manhattan executive passes away leaving behind a primary residence on the Upper East Side and a family villa in Tuscany, the surviving spouse
When a Manhattan family loses a parent, the eldest child often steps into the role of executor out of a sense of duty. At first,
When a surviving child sits across from my desk in Manhattan with a box full of their late parent’s mail, they usually express a sense
When a grieving family sits in my Madison Avenue office holding a printout from an online will generator, the conversation is rarely an easy one.
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent who left behind a house, a business, and a two-page document downloaded from the internet, the next eighteen
When an executor walks into a Brooklyn brownstone filled with four decades of a parent’s accumulated life, the first instinct is often to let family
Three weeks after a parent’s funeral, a Manhattan family returns to the deceased’s apartment to find a mailbox jammed open with credit card offers, utility
When a Manhattan family discovers their father’s estate plan consists of a downloaded will printed on standard copy paper, the next year of their lives
When a Manhattan family loses a parent whose only estate planning document was an aging last will and testament, the next nine to twelve months
A retired architect in Brooklyn transfers his paid-off brownstone and two brokerage accounts into a standard revocable living trust. He assumes his life’s work is
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent who signed a deed transferring the family brownstone to a revocable trust but left that document sitting in
When a family gathers in a Manhattan funeral director’s office just days after losing a parent, the immediate question is rarely about the division of
When a Manhattan family loses a parent who relied exclusively on a simple will, the next year is largely dictated by the calendar of the
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
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent who lived alone, the immediate aftermath is often a chaotic search for paperwork. I regularly meet with adult
A Manhattan father leaves his estate equally to his three adult children. He signs the will, places it in a safe deposit box, and lives
When a Brooklyn family realizes their father’s dementia has progressed past the point of lucidity, a quiet panic usually sets in over what he left
When a grieving Manhattan family discovers their father left behind highly specific—and highly unusual—instructions for his physical remains, the next forty-eight hours are usually fraught
A widower in Queens recently decided to protect his family home from future nursing home costs. Instead of sitting down with an attorney, he paid
When a parent passes away in Brooklyn, the family often faces a highly practical problem parked right in the driveway. The registration is expiring, the
Two siblings inherit a multi-family home in Brooklyn. One lives in the garden apartment, manages the tenants, and pays the property taxes. The other lives
When a Brooklyn family liquidates a third-generation manufacturing business, the sudden liquidity event creates an immediate tax crisis. If a significant estate passes outright to
Two sisters purchase a brownstone in Brooklyn. They put both of their names on the deed, assuming that if one of them passes away, the
When a Long Island family arrives at our office holding a death certificate and a Will drafted in 1998, they usually assume the hardest part
A retired physician in Brooklyn sat across from my desk last month with a problem. Ten years ago, she placed her brownstone and the bulk
