When a family loses a parent in New York who left only a will, their next year is spent with the Surrogate’s Court. I see
When a Manhattan family loses a parent whose only preparation was a basic will downloaded from the internet, the next eighteen months belong to Surrogate’s
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
I often meet with parents who have done the responsible thing—they’ve bought life insurance and drafted a will. But when we look at the beneficiary
A client came to our Manhattan office with her late father’s trust, a document he had prepared a decade ago. She believed his affairs were
A client recently described a difficult conversation with her aging father in Brooklyn. A retired history professor, he was still sharp, but was starting to
A client once sat across from me in my Manhattan office and asked, “Can I just name my oldest daughter as my trustee? She’s always
When a family on Long Island loses a parent, they often believe a simple will is all that’s needed. They are then shocked to discover
A client recently told me about her friend’s family. After her father passed away in Brooklyn, they found his will tucked into a book. It
When a Manhattan family names their eldest daughter as successor trustee to save on corporate fees, the immediate assumption is that trust administration will cost
A young executive in Manhattan drafts her will using a popular online service. She answers the questions, prints the document, and has two colleagues sign
When a client’s mother passed away in her Manhattan apartment, he brought me her will, believing it was the complete instruction manual for handling her
I once met with a couple in Nassau County who had built a successful business from the ground up. They had a will they’d downloaded
When a Manhattan family loses a parent who relied on a fill-in-the-blank online will, the next eighteen months belong to Surrogate’s Court. Surviving children usually
When a Manhattan family loses a fiercely private patriarch, the immediate aftermath is often characterized by closed doors and quiet decisions. If the instructions for
You’ve been asked to serve as the trustee for a family friend’s trust in Manhattan. You’re honored, but as the initial warmth of the request
I recently met with a couple who own a successful restaurant in Brooklyn. For twenty years, they’ve poured everything into it. When one of them
A client from Brooklyn called me last month in a state of quiet panic. Her husband had just passed, and their bank had frozen their
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 family in Suffolk County loses a parent who never created a trust, the next nine months—and often longer—are spent in Surrogate’s Court. The
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent, the immediate instinct is to start settling affairs. You locate the original will in a desk drawer, walk
A family sits in my office and asks a question I hear often: “We saw an online service that creates a will for a few
I once worked with the family of a man who built a beloved Italian restaurant in Manhattan. For 40 years, he and his partner poured
A client recently came into our Manhattan office with a folder of documents and a deep line of worry on his brow. He had spent
A family in Brooklyn receives a formal document from the Surrogate’s Court called a “Citation.” It names a recently deceased relative and instructs them to
I received a call last week from a client in Brooklyn. His sister had passed away suddenly, and his brother-in-law was overwhelmed. “Everyone is calling,”
I once worked with a family whose father, a successful small business owner in Queens, had passed away suddenly. He was meticulous in his business
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent who held title to a brownstone entirely in his own name, the children often expect a seamless transfer
When a Brooklyn family inherits a free-and-clear brownstone, the assumption is often that financial relief has arrived. The reality is a prolonged, expensive waiting period.
A client recently came to our Madison Avenue office after his mother passed away. He brought a simple file folder containing a bank statement, the
