by Bonnie Lawston | Dec 19, 2017 | Estate Administration
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...
by Bonnie Lawston | Nov 16, 2017 | 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...
by Bonnie Lawston | Mar 23, 2017 | Estate Administration, Probate Litigation
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...
by Bonnie Lawston | Dec 15, 2016 | Executore Fiduciary Duty
Under the estate laws in New York, a person named in a will as an executor has certain “fiduciary duties.” A fiduciary duty is essentially the requirement to act in the best interest of another party. The fiduciary duty owed by an executor is the duty to...
by Bonnie Lawston | Nov 4, 2016 | undue influence
One of the more common allegations in estate litigation is the assertion that someone exerted undue influence on a decedent, either causing the decedent to transfer property before death to that person or to change a will or trust the benefit of the undue influencer....
