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Surrogate Court Gives Lifetime Promise Priority Over Will
Perhaps the most common way to transfer property upon death in the State of New York is through a valid will or trust. What happens, though, if you've entered into a binding contract to transfer certain property to a specific beneficiary under you will, but the...
Court Limits Scope of Release Involving Estate and Trust Accounting
It's pretty common procedure for a fiduciary to a trust to obtain a release, with the objective of waiving the fiduciary's obligation to provide an accounting of the assets of the estate and trust. A recent opinion from the Surrogate Court in New York County casts...
Keeping Your Ex Spouse from Being Administrator of Your Estate
In most situations, the last person you would want to give the authority to administer your estate would be a former spouse. In fact, to avoid such a contingency, it's a fairly common practice for parties to a divorce to include language in the divorce decree...
What Happens If a Beneficiary is also a Witness to a Will?
Under New York law, a valid will must contain the signatures of two witnesses. There are no requirements regarding the capacity of the witnesses. The testator (person executing the will) must sign in the presence of the witnesses, but they need not sign in each...
What Happens If You Can’t Locate a Will?
So you spend the time and money to carefully plan out your estate and you prepare and execute a will that ensures that your property goes exactly where you want it to. Once you've made it official, you put the original copy of your last will and testament with your...
A Fiduciary’s Duty to Seek Out and Collect Estate Assets
Under New York law, when you have been named as executor or administrator of the estate of another person, you assume certain "fiduciary" duties, requiring that you act in the best interests of the estate and its beneficiaries. One of the most important duties is the...
“No Contest” Provision in Will May Be Contested
A will contest can be an expensive and time-consuming process. While the will contest is in process, beneficiaries will have no access to estate assets. Unfortunately, will contests can often be used to wrongfully gain leverage against other beneficiaries. As a...
The Right to Discovery in Probate Litigation
When someone dies with a will in New York State, that person's estate must generally be "settled" through filings and proceedings overseen by the probate court. Referred to as probate, this process can often be done without the need for litigation. However, when there...
Videotaping the Execution of a Will
Execution of A Will It's not uncommon, in New York and other jurisdictions, for dispossessed or unhappy heirs to allege that a will was executed under duress or undue influence. What if you videotape the execution of the will, so that there's visual evidence to...
Matter of Van Patten—Representation by Counsel
If I am an executor, administrator or trustee, do I need an attorney and who pays for it? Why spend the money? The answer is that you should. Since the duties of a fiduciary involve actions that required legal counsel, any non-attorney executor (or fiduciary) who...
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