Even Halloween gives rise to legal issues that may pertain to our blog readers. This blog post will address haunted houses, zombie houses, ghosts and other scary situations from a legal perspective. Unfortunately, a crime, suicide or other unpleasant event may have happened in a house prior to sale. Such…
Articles Posted in Wills & Trusts
Estate Proceedings for Property Located “Elsewhere”
People are leading increasingly complicated lives, in that they spend their time in several locales, some of which may not be their place of residence. If a person is fortunate, they may develop an affection for a particular area and buy a second home in such area. Likewise, they may…
Beware the Evil Stepmother
Evil stepmothers are not only found in popular culture, as epitomized in Cinderella . Such persons are commonly the subject of events reported by the New York press. Estate conflicts often arise between children of a prior marriage and a more current spouse. Such persons inherently have potentially differing interests.…
Enjoy Your Vacation Home this Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day weekend is eagerly anticipated by many of our readers, especially this year after the harsh winter that we endured. Fortunate travelers expect to enjoy their vacation homes this weekend. As you head out for the weekend, we wish to remind you of certain legal issues pertaining to vacation…
New Yorkers Will Always Have Death and Taxes
New Yorkers seem to be “taxed to death”, paying the highest average property taxes in the country. We are the only state that charges a tax for the making of a mortgage. The tax burden does not end at death, as New York also has its own estate tax. Governor…
Marital Rights in a New York Estate
Our clients have inquired as to the consequences of the termination of a martial relationship upon rights in a New York estate. The resolution to this issue depends upon whether the relationship was legally terminated through a divorce and whether the estate is being conducted as an administration or a…
Who Gets My Stuff?
The Associated Press recently reported about a controversy concerning treasured possessions belonging to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King’s daughter Bernice King is currently in possession of his Nobel Peace Prize Medal and personal Bible. Her brothers, who control the Estate, have been attempting to seize these items, so…
Trusts Part II: Specialized Trusts Play Role in Estate Planning
In our last blog post , we described trusts in general terms. This blog post will define and describe particular specialized trusts, including their purposes and benefits. A Medicaid Trust allows for the assets to be held in trust so that the settlor will qualify for Medicaid and other governmental…
Trusts Part I: Estate Planning for Astute New Yorkers
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…
Weiss & Weiss Blog- Case Updates
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 .…