I often meet with the adult children of a family from Carroll Gardens or Park Slope. They sit in my office, holding a will their
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 often meet with families in our Manhattan office who have a simple, generous idea. A parent, wanting to make things easier for their children,
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent, the family home often shifts overnight from a place of childhood memories to a focal point of legal
A client sat in my office last week. He’d spent 40 years building a successful real estate business in Queens, and he wanted it to
When a Manhattan family loses their patriarch, the immediate aftermath is often a blur of grief, funeral arrangements, and logistical scrambling. Eventually, the dust settles,
When a Brooklyn family loses a parent, the immediate focus is rarely on unsecured debt. But a few weeks after the funeral, the mail continues
When a Manhattan family loses a parent who relied entirely on a simple will, the next nine to twelve months belong to Surrogate’s Court. The
When managing a trust, the importance of selecting the right individual cannot be overstated. The responsibility of overseeing and administering a trust requires a keen
Clients often walk into my office and, after we’ve discussed their family, their business, and their goals, they ask the inevitable question: “So, how much
A family in Brooklyn gathers to read their mother’s will. They discover she left the family brownstone in a “testamentary trust” for her grandchildren’s education,
A family I met with from Queens recently lost their father. In his desk, they found the deed to the family home—a document their parents
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
Three siblings inherit a Brooklyn brownstone after their mother passes away. One sibling has lived in the garden apartment for ten years and wants to
For more than half a century, a myth has claimed that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen, waiting to be revived. It’s a compelling story, but
I recently sat with a client who spent 40 years building a successful manufacturing business on Long Island. He was ready to retire and pass
A parent passes away in their home on Staten Island. In their desk drawer is a will, naming their eldest child as the executor. The
When an executor walks into a Manhattan apartment weeks after a parent’s passing, the first thing they notice is the mail. It is usually piled
A client from Brooklyn called me last week. Her mother had just passed away, leaving behind a revocable trust that named my client as the
When a New York family loses a parent, the grief is immediate, but the administrative reality usually sets in at the bank branch. An adult
Your successor trustee—perhaps your eldest child or a sibling—walks into a bank to open an account for the trust you created. The branch manager asks
I often meet with families in our offices who have just bought their first home—a brownstone in Park Slope, a loft in Williamsburg. They have
A client recently came to my office after relocating from Texas. He had sold his home there and purchased a co-op on the Upper East
When a Brooklyn family decides to sell their late mother’s brownstone, they often assume the transaction will be straightforward. They have her original Will, they
A thick envelope arrives from a law firm. Inside, you find a copy of your uncle’s will, and your name is listed next to the
A Manhattan widow transfers $2.5 million of brokerage accounts into an irrevocable trust, expecting her children’s inheritance to be entirely shielded from future creditors. Nine
A client recently sat in my Manhattan office and described his father’s last decade with early-onset dementia. The financial and emotional cost to the family
A new client once brought me a will he’d downloaded from a website for $99. He was proud of the savings. The problem was that
When a surviving spouse walks into Surrogate’s Court in Manhattan clutching a death certificate and a poorly drafted will, the last thing they need is
When a family in Queens loses a parent, the immediate focus is rarely on the driveway. Weeks later, an adult child inevitably finds the title
