The statues concerning the appointment of a New York Guardian for personal needs or property management are located in Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law (MHL). In order to have a Guardian appointed MHL 81.02 requires that the alleged incapacitated person either agree to the appointment or that the…
There is general agreement that it is important to prepare a New York Estate Plan. The documents that may be considered in planning include a Last Will and Testament, Health Care Proxy, Power of Attorney, Living Will and Revocable Trust. Some of these papers are referred to as advance directives.…
When a person dies without a Last Will and Testament he is known to have died intestate. In these cases the person’s distributees or next of kin have the statutory right to inherit the estate assets. Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) Section 4-1.1 entitled “Descent and distribution of a…
When a person dies without a Last Will and Testament he is said to have died intestate. In these cases the decedent’s estate is distributed pursuant to the laws of intestacy. Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) section 4-1.1 entitled “Descent and distribution of a decedent’s estate”, provides the list…
When a person creates an estate plan he typically prepares a Last Will and Testament. A Will contains a provision that nominates an Executor. Thus, in most probate proceedings the selection of the estate fiduciary is not complicated and is controlled by the appointment made by a testator in a…
When a Last Will and Testament is filed with the Surrogate’s Court for probate, a number of procedural steps must be followed. The Will itself is accompanied by a Probate Petition. The Petition contains essential information regarding the decedent, the date of death, the names of the attesting witnesses, the…
Article 81 of the New York Mental Hygiene Law (“MHL”) provides the statutory provisions covering the appointment of a Guardian. A Guardian may be appointed for personal needs and also for property management. The procedure set forth in the statute to commence a Guardianship proceeding is straight forward. MHL section…
The administration of a New York estate typically has three phases. At the outset, a fiduciary needs to be appointed such as an Executor or an Administrator. Once there is someone in an official capacity to handle the decedent’s affairs, the process of locating and collecting assets can begin. Also,…
There are many requirements in New York estate law concerning the proper execution of a Last Will and Testament. The basic statute setting forth these rules is Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (“EPTL”) section 3-2.1 entitled “Execution and attestation of wills; formal requirements”. The validity of a Will requires that…
In Surrogate’s Court proceedings there are many instances where a party can file Objections. Estate Litigation usually involves matters that are commenced with a Petition. For example, in Probate Cases, the probate process is started by filing a Petition for Probate and Letters Testamentary. Similarly, when a decedent dies without…