FEATURES & NEWS

A father in Brooklyn wants to add his adult daughter to the deed of the family brownstone. He believes it will help her avoid probate

When a Brooklyn family loses a parent, the named executor often assumes their job begins the moment the funeral ends. They locate the original will,

A son in Nassau County gets a call. His mother had a fall, and while she’s not seriously injured, she can no longer live alone.

A son calls our Manhattan office, his voice strained. His father passed away that morning. His sister, citing their father’s devout faith, has already started

I once met with a client who had downloaded a will from a popular legal website. He was a successful executive, proud of his efficiency.

A client recently came to my Manhattan office convinced they needed a complex trust. They had read online that it was the only way to

A client called my office last week with a distressing problem. Her elderly uncle, who lived alone in Brooklyn, had not answered his phone in

A client’s father, a retired teacher in Queens, passes away. Weeks later, his son—the executor of the will—is sorting through mail and discovers a recurring

An executor stands in the doorway of her father’s Brooklyn brownstone for the first time since the funeral. Every room is filled with a lifetime

A family in Brooklyn calls my office. Their mother recently passed away, and while she left a will stating her three children should inherit her

A client recently came to our Manhattan office with a clear directive. “My neighbor put her brownstone in a trust to avoid probate,” she said,

The phone rings. It’s a collection agency asking for your recently deceased father, calling about an overdue credit card balance from a Manhattan department store.

I once sat with a client, a retired shipping executive from Brooklyn, as we finalized his will. He was a man who had spent his

A client came to our Manhattan office after his mother passed away. She lived a modest life in Queens, leaving a small checking account, some

It’s late January. A trustee is reviewing the annual statements for a family trust and discovers a large, unexpected capital gain was realized in late

I often meet with new clients who believe a simple will is all the planning they need. They’ve signed a document, named an executor, and

A client came to our Manhattan office last year with a simple wish. His daughter had just given birth to his first grandchild, and he

A client from Queens recently came to my office with a familiar dilemma. “My brother is a good man,” he said, “but he can’t balance

When a Brooklyn patriarch suffers a severe stroke, the immediate aftermath is rarely just a medical crisis—it becomes a legal one. Hospital administrators demand consent

The will is read, and the contents are a shock. A caretaker who appeared in the final months of a parent’s life is now the

A thick envelope arrives from the New York County Surrogate’s Court. Inside is a document called a “Citation,” dense with legal language, demanding an appearance.

I once met with the widow of a successful architect. Her husband had co-founded a thriving firm in Manhattan, structured as a Limited Liability Company

I once worked with a family from Brooklyn where the father’s will was perfectly clear: his entire estate was to be divided equally between his

I once met with a 28-year-old software engineer from Manhattan who had significant stock options but no will. He believed estate planning was for his

I’ve seen it happen more than once in Brooklyn’s Surrogate’s Court. A family comes in with what they believe is a perfectly valid will, signed

A family in Brooklyn finds their mother’s last will and testament. They read her final wishes, see who inherits, and assume the document is the