A father passes away in Brooklyn. His son wants a traditional burial in the family plot. His daughter, citing conversations with her father, insists he
A few months ago, a client sat in my Manhattan office, worried. His parents had owned their Brooklyn brownstone since the 1970s, and its value
I often meet with the children of a recently deceased parent who left behind a Manhattan apartment and a simple, do-it-yourself will. They believe this
When a Manhattan family loses a parent who relied entirely on a simple will, the next nine months—and often much longer—belong to Surrogate’s Court. The
A client’s father, a retired professor in Brooklyn, had a stroke last year. He had a will, meticulously drafted. But the will only dictates what
When a client’s mother passes away in her Brooklyn home, the family often finds her Last Will and Testament tucked away in a safe deposit
I’ve seen it happen more than once. A family matriarch passes away in her beloved Park Slope brownstone, leaving behind three adult children and a
A woman from Park Slope calls our office. Her father passed away, and she was named the executor in his will. Now she holds a
When a Manhattan family returns from closing out their mother’s apartment, the last thing they expect to find in her accumulated mail is a welcome
When a Brooklyn family gathers to sort through a deceased parent’s desk and discovers there is no will, their immediate grief is quickly followed by
I once worked with a family whose patriarch built a successful manufacturing business in Brooklyn. When he died, his children inherited a company worth millions—on
Your father named your brother as the executor of his will. Six months have passed since the funeral, and you’ve heard nothing but silence. You
An official-looking envelope arrives from the New York County Surrogate’s Court. Inside is a citation naming you as the executor of your mother’s estate. You
A family recently sat in my Madison Avenue office holding a beautifully bound, fifty-page revocable living trust. Their father paid an attorney a respectable fee
Every few years, a client sits across from my desk in Manhattan and asks a question that borders on science fiction. They do not just
When a parent passes away in Brooklyn with a will but no trust, the family often assumes the estate will be settled in a few
I often see the consequences of inaction play out in Surrogate’s Court. A family from Nassau County loses a parent, the last surviving one. They
When a Brooklyn parent’s cognitive decline crosses the line from forgetful to dangerous, adult children often assume they can simply step in to manage the
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
A client recently came into our Madison Avenue office with a thick binder. Her father, a lifelong Brooklyn resident, had passed away, and she had
A few years ago, a new client came to my office with his mother’s will. He was distraught. She had passed away a month earlier,
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
A family in Brooklyn inherits their parents’ brownstone, the place they grew up. Their first thought is to sell it and divide the proceeds, as
I once met with three siblings in my Manhattan office who had just spent a year fighting in Surrogate’s Court over their father’s business. He
A few months ago, a woman from Brooklyn sat in my office, holding a life insurance policy summary. Her husband of twenty years had just
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
When the owner of a Brooklyn brownstone passes away, the will they left behind isn’t the final word. It’s the starting point. That document, along
A client’s daughter recently called my office. Her mother had passed away in Brooklyn, and she was named as the executor in the will. She
A client recently came to my office with a common but stressful problem. His mother had passed away, leaving him her house in Westchester. He
A family I met with recently came to my Manhattan office with their late father’s will. He was a widower, and the will was straightforward—it
