Trusts provide a valuable tool in estate planning because they serve the purposes of preserving assets, protecting intended beneficiaries, and potentially saving or eliminating estate taxes. A trust is a legal document that conveys a “corpus”, or body of assets, from the settlor (the person who creates the trust and…
From time to time, our attorneys become aware of updates relating to matters that we have discussed in our blog posts. This week, we have three such cases in which there have been new developments. The Huguette Clark estate litigation has been the subject of a previous blog post .…
The fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington was recently acknowledged, celebrating the great civil rights battle for equality for our African-American citizens. More recently, same-sex couples have also been engaged in their own battle for equal treatment in issues such as the right to marry, taxation, health and pension…
Many of us have seen the slick advertisements on television for reverse mortgages. An actor who is popular with our seniors will advocate the advertiser’s reverse mortgage program as a way to tap home equity and enjoy the “good life”, the long awaited vacation or purchase of a new car…
Our readers may be aware of an unusual estate litigation in New York City. Huguette Clark died in 2011 at the age of 104. Being the only surviving child of a copper mining magnate, she left a fortune of approximately three hundred million dollars. Ms. Clark was also highly eccentric.…
Real estate transactions commonly involve the inclusion of title insurance policies. For the purposes of this blog post, we will be discussing title insurance obtained when a person purchases a house. Title insurance is a unique type of insurance, in that the events that are to be covered have already…
Our readers who follow politics know that members of Congress have battled in recent years with respect to revisions to the tax law. Specifically, estate, gift, and income taxes have been subject to adjustments. The purpose of this blog post is not to describe the specific changes made to these…
This blog post contains a description of some of the standard substantive objections that a person may have to the admission of a Will to probate. Estate practitioners deem these objections the “four horsemen”. Due execution, testamentary capacity, undue influence and fraud comprise the four horsemen. Due execution is known…
Inquiries are often made of our firm as to whether a claim can be made which may dispute the terms of another person’s Will and the proper time and legal mechanism for doing so. This post will address the issues that arise in a Will contest. As our readers may…
For various reasons, not everyone dies has a Will that disposes of their property and identifies the person authorized to manage such distribution. In such a case, the surviving heirs should engage the services of an attorney to submit a Petition to the Surrogate’s Court in the County in which…