When a family in Brooklyn inherits a paid-off townhouse but absolutely zero liquid cash, the next nine to twelve months belong to Surrogate’s Court. Property
I often meet with families who believe a simple will is all the protection they need. They’ve downloaded a form, filled in the blanks, and
A family in Park Slope receives a notice from the Kings County Surrogate’s Court. The matriarch has passed, her will is twenty years old, and
I recently sat with a couple in their late 60s, a second marriage for both. He had built a successful business in Manhattan and wanted
When a Manhattan executive sits across from me and asks exactly how long they can dictate the use of their family’s wealth after they pass,
I’ve sat with families who have spent a lifetime building something meaningful on Long Island—a thriving business, a cherished family home in the Hamptons, a
A family in Carroll Gardens recently called my office. Their mother had passed away, leaving a will that named her eldest son as executor. He
A client recently sat across my desk in our Madison Avenue office, reviewing a will we drafted for him back in 2014. When we reached
A client came to our Manhattan office with a devastating problem. Her mother needed nursing home care, and the family was preparing a Medicaid application.
A family in Manhattan finds their father’s will, neatly filed in his desk. They see he left his apartment to his children and named his
When a Manhattan family discovers their father’s will was signed but never witnessed, the next nine months belong to Surrogate’s Court. I see this scenario
When a Brooklyn family discovers a parent’s final wishes typed on a single sheet of paper, signed, and stamped by the local bank notary, they
A Brooklyn family buries their father on a Tuesday. By Thursday, they discover he signed a new will just three weeks before his death, leaving
A client recently came to my office with a thick folder and a sense of exhaustion. His father, a lifelong Brooklyn resident, had passed away,
When a Manhattan family discovers their father’s signed will in a safety deposit box, they usually assume the hardest part is over. They take the
A client sat in my Manhattan office last month, convinced his estate was in perfect order. He had recently finalized his divorce and updated his
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
The story goes that Walt Disney, the master of animation, had his body cryogenically frozen, waiting for a future cure. It’s a compelling myth, but
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
A family in Manhattan recently called my office. Their father had passed away, leaving a will that clearly named his eldest son as the executor.
A client recently told me about his sister, named the executor of their mother’s estate in Brooklyn. In the midst of her grief, she was
The Founder’s Blind Spot I once met with the co-founders of a promising tech startup in Manhattan. They had everything mapped out—their cap table, their
When an executor for a Brooklyn family walks into a bank to open an account for the estate, they are stopped at the first step.
When a family gathers in a Manhattan conference room to read a parent’s will, the tension often hinges on a few archaic-sounding words. A father
I often sit with clients who have spent a lifetime building something—a family business in Brooklyn, a real estate portfolio, a significant collection of art.
When a Manhattan executive walked into my office last year with a six-figure contract from an Arizona cryonics facility, we had to have a blunt
A landlord in Brooklyn gets a call from his tenant’s sister. Her brother, who lived alone in the garden-level apartment, passed away unexpectedly. After offering
A client once told me his three children were all smart and successful, so picking one to be his trustee would be simple. A year
Three siblings inherit their parents’ debt-free brownstone in Brooklyn. Two want to sell the property immediately, take the cash, and move on. The third sibling,
I once worked with the family of a successful Manhattan art dealer. He had spent years meticulously crafting a revocable living trust, transferring ownership of
