The phone call often comes in the middle of the night. Your father, who lived in the same apartment on the Upper West Side for
A few weeks ago, I took a call from a man whose mother had just passed away in her Brooklyn home. He was certain she
A client, a successful architect from Brooklyn, recently sat in my office. “I keep reading about trusts,” he said, “but it feels like there are
A family in Brooklyn owns a portfolio of commercial properties, held within a single family-run LLC. When the patriarch passed away, his 40% interest was,
When a Manhattan executive passes away leaving behind a downloaded internet will, the family often expects a swift transition of assets. Instead, they spend the
When a phone call comes at three in the morning from a Brooklyn hospital, the last thing a daughter living in California wants to calculate
A client recently came to my office after his mother passed away in her Brooklyn apartment. She didn’t own the apartment, but she had a
When a Manhattan family submits their mother’s will to Surrogate’s Court, they often expect a quiet transition of assets. Then the clerk asks for the
A client’s father passes away in his Brooklyn apartment. He never wrote a will. The son, trying to do the right thing, goes to his
Your mother passed away in her Brooklyn apartment. She left no will, and her only assets are a small checking account and some personal belongings.
A client once brought me his father’s will, a straightforward document leaving a valuable Brooklyn brownstone to him and his brother. On its face, it
A family in Brooklyn inherits their father’s brownstone, his primary asset. They assume they can sell it and divide the proceeds, but they quickly discover
A family in Brooklyn receives the first accounting from the executor of their father’s estate. They were prepared for legal expenses, but the numbers are
I recently sat with a couple in their late seventies who had owned their Brooklyn brownstone since the 1960s. Their children were grown and settled,
When a family clears out a Queens home after a parent’s death, the physical items are obvious. The financial footprint is an entirely different story.
A client called me last week from Suffolk County. His mother had recently passed, leaving him her manufactured home in a quiet community. He assumed
A Manhattan physician recently sat across my desk and handed over a malpractice summons. He wanted to know if he could quickly move his Upper
A client once called me, deeply distressed. His mother, a lifelong resident of Manhattan, had passed away. He was named executor in her will and
I worked with a family whose father built a successful manufacturing business in Queens over 40 years. He left a detailed will, believing he had
A client once sat across from me in my Manhattan office and stated his intention plainly: “I want to leave my entire estate to my
When a Queens family discovers their mother’s trust failed to shield her home from Medicaid recovery, they inevitably feel betrayed by the legal system. They
When a Manhattan family unlocks a deceased parent’s safe deposit box and finds a neatly folded Last Will and Testament, they often assume the hard
A mother adds her eldest son to the deed of her Brooklyn brownstone. She sees it as a simple way to transfer the property when
A client once came into my Manhattan office with a document they’d downloaded from the internet. It was a template for a revocable living trust,
A father passes away, leaving his Brooklyn brownstone to one of his three children. He believed he was rewarding the child who cared for him
A parent’s first instinct is to provide for their child. So when a Brooklyn couple with a disabled adult son plans their will, they naturally
A couple I met last year bought their brownstone in Park Slope in the late 1980s. They raised their children there, paid off the mortgage,
Your Executor: The First, Most Critical Choice A Manhattan client’s father passed away, leaving a well-drafted will. The problem was not the will—it was the
The call often comes from an executor in Brooklyn, or an adult child who has just inherited a parent’s Manhattan apartment. They’ve learned they are
A son calls our office from Brooklyn. His mother passed away a few months ago, and he’s been living in the family home, the house
