New York Probate Lawyer Blog

February 16, 2022

Estate Planning Mistakes Happen to the Rich and Famous

Estate planning in New York is important to preserve assets and insure a proper distribution after death. The New York Probate Lawyer Blog has published many articles concerning planning an estate. These articles have included discussions about Last Wills, Living Trusts, Health Care Proxies, Living Wills and Powers of Attorney. It would seem that preparing a plan is fundamental. There are also many articles in the Blog concerning Article 81 Guardianships.

Many individuals assume that if they are not considered to be wealthy that engaging in estate planning is a waste of time. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, as we have seen, even individuals who accumulate a fortune sometimes fail to adequately provide any planning. As a result, their estates and families suffer tremendous post-death consequences.

A recent post at Kiplinger.com entitled “Prince’s Estate is a Royal Mess: 5 Ways You Can do Better”, dated February 5, 2022 and written by Jack R. Hales, Jr., J.D., describes the problems faced by the late pop star’s estate. Apparently, Prince did not have a Will. In New York, if you do not have a Will, the distribution of your assets is controlled by the laws of intestacy. An intestate estate is distributed to a decedent’s next of kin in the order of priority set forth in Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 4-1.1 entitled “Descent and distribution of a decedent’s estate.” As pointed out in the article, a Will allows a person to determine their testamentary plan. Additional considerations include dealing with minor children and the creation of trusts. Of course, creating a Will allows a testator to specifically identify particular aspects of estate distribution and create detailed directions to deal with these matters.

February 9, 2022

Estate Administration and Reverse Mortgages

by Jules M. Haas

New York estate administration involves the collection of assets and the payment of the decedent’s debts and obligations. Assets may include bank accounts, financial holdings in brokerage accounts, pension funds, 401(k) accounts and life insurance. One of the major assets typically found in an estate is real estate. This asset is usually the home where the decedent lived.

Among the many types of debts and obligations, there may be credit card balances, hospital or medical bills, car loans and other outstanding debt obligations. The major source of a debt obligation is most commonly the unpaid mortgage balance on a decedent’s home.

In many cases, mortgage debt cannot be paid without selling the real estate against which it is filed as a lien.

February 1, 2022

Choosing a New York Executor or Other Fiduciary – Some Considerations

by Jules M. Haas

Estate planning in New York is important for many reasons. Primarily, when a person plans their estate, they are ultimately creating documents and situating assets to reflect their intentions regarding the ultimate disposition of these items. Nowadays, estate planning is often viewed as a broader topic and includes papers that are referred to as advance directives. These would include a Power of Attorney, Living Will and Health Care Proxy. The more traditional estate planning papers include a Last Will and Testament, and possibly a living revocable trust or even an irrevocable trust. The New York Probate Lawyer Blog has published many articles relating to the various documents identified above.

Any type of planning document requires that the person creating the paper consider the selection of various types of fiduciaries. These fiduciaries include executors, trustees and agents acting pursuant to a power of attorney or health care proxy. It may also include the nomination of a guardian for a minor child. In most cases, the appointment of a fiduciary is simple and the choice is typically a spouse or child or other close relative or friend. However, there are many situations where the selection is not as clear cut and various considerations need to be taken into account.

One issue which should be analyzed is whether the proposed appointee is willing to accept the appointment. Not everyone wants to accept the responsibility of being an estate executor or trustee of a trust. It is always a good idea to ask the proposed fiduciary if they would accept the appointment. This avoids having to find a replacement once a document comes into effect. While a substitute appointment in the document is always advisable, there is no assurance the substitute would be available or want to accept the task.

January 24, 2022

Proof of Marriage is Needed to Be a Distributee – the Common Law Marriage Problem

by Jules M. Haas

One of the most common questions that is raised following the death of an individual is whether there is a surviving spouse. This is especially so in cases where a person dies intestate without leaving a Last Will and Testament. In intestate estates, the decedent’s assets pass to his distributees or next of kin. The persons who are entitled to inherit are specified in Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 4-1.1 entitled “Descent and distribution of a decedent’s estate.” Pursuant to this statute, a surviving spouse receives at least the first $50,000.00 and one-half of the estate if there are surviving children or the whole estate if there are no children. As a result, being a surviving spouse provides a tremendous financial benefit along with other rights. A surviving spouse also has priority to be appointed the estate administrator pursuant to Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act Section 1001 entitled “Order of priority for granting letters of administration.” The New York Probate Lawyer Blog has published many articles concerning estate administration and spousal rights.

There are many instances where two individuals cohabitate together for many years and essentially live their lives as if they were married. Unfortunately, if there has not been a formal marriage ceremony as recognized by state law, a person’s inheritance rights may be in jeopardy, particularly in New York.

New York is one of the jurisdictions which does not recognize common law marriage. As a result, if one of the individuals who engage in a non-marital relationship dies, the survivor will not qualify as a surviving spouse and cannot inherit from their deceased partner. Of course, if the partner created a Will or left assets in a manner which passed directly to the survivor such as a joint bank account, the partner would inherit even though there was no marriage.

January 14, 2022

Why Objections to a New York Will May Not Be Easily Dismissed

by Jules M. Haas

A Last Will and Testament in New York must be admitted to Probate in order for it to become effective. The probate process involves the filing of a petition with the Surrogate’s Court along with additional documents. Persons who are identified as distributees (the decedent’s next of kin) must be notified. This is typically accomplished through the service of a Court issued Citation. Distributees have a right to contest a Will. The New York Probate Lawyers Blog has published many articles concerning the probate and administration of estates and contesting a Will.

Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 3-2.1 entitled “Execution and attestation of wills; formal requirements” provides the requirements for the proper execution of a Will. In cases where the statutory steps are not complied with, an objection to a Will can be filed based upon lack of due execution. For instance, two attesting witnesses are required. If there are not two witnesses, a Will can be denied probate.

Other grounds for a contested Will include lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence. While it may seem initially that a Will that is attorney supervised and executed in accordance with the estate law should result in a simple rejection of objections by a Court, that is not always the case.

January 4, 2022

A Guardianship Court can Void the Marriage of an Incapacitated Person

by Jules M. Haas

Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law (MHL) contains the provisions regarding the appointment of a Guardian. A Guardian can be appointed for personal needs and also for property management. Generally, according to MHL 81.02 entitled “Power to appoint a guardian of the person and/or property; standard for appointment”, a Guardian is appointed after the Court determines that the alleged incapacitated person is incapacitated. There needs to be clear and convincing evidence which includes a determination that the person is likely to suffer harm and that they do not appreciate or understand the nature of the disability that affects them.

I have represented individuals in many Guardianship cases throughout New York. As a Guardianship lawyer, I am aware that a Court will want to see the extent to which a person can handle their activities of daily living such as personal health and care matters and financial transactions. The New York Probate Lawyer Blog contains numerous posts regarding Guardianship issues.

One interesting aspect of Article 81 is Section 81.29 entitled “Effect of the appointment on the incapacitated person”. Among this statute’s provisions is the authority for the Court to revoke, modify or amend any power of attorney, health care proxy, contract or conveyance made by a person found to be incapacitated. By utilizing this provision, a Court is able to rectify transfers or delegations of authority made by a person who did not have the capacity to enter into the transaction at the time. This provides an additional layer of protection for individuals and forestalls abuse.

December 24, 2021

Estate Planning When There is a Divorce

by Jules M. Haas

Many articles have been written about New York estate planning when a couple is considering or entering into a divorce. The New York Probate Lawyer Blog has published a number of articles on this topic in the past. However, it is important from time to time to review this information.

Spousal rights are a very special area when considering estate issues. This is due to the fact that New York estate laws provide a surviving spouse with certain rights, most importantly a spousal right of election. This prevents a surviving spouse from being disinherited. Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 5-1.1A entitled “Right of election by surviving spouse” essentially provides that a surviving spouse is entitled to receive at least one-third of a deceased spouse’s estate. So, even when spouses are engaged in actual or possible divorce proceedings, the death of one may still result in an inheritance by another. Until there is a final divorce or a waiver of spousal rights, a feuding husband and wife may be subjected to inheritance rights. I have seen many cases where parties have been separated for many years, even decades, but a spousal right of election might still apply.

As can be imagined, even though parties may change their Last Wills and Trusts and other asset dispositions, inheritance by a surviving spouse prior to a divorce may not be avoided. However, once parties do officially become divorced, there are still many items to be taken into consideration. While a divorce may nullify preexisting provisions in Wills or other post-death beneficiary designations, these documents should not be left to chance.

December 16, 2021

Choosing a New York Executor

by Jules M. Haas

One of the benefits from implementing a New York estate plan and preparing a Last Will and Testament is the ability of a testator to select an executor. This option does not exist when a person dies intestate without a Will. In such a situation, the estate administrator is determined pursuant to the estate laws contained in Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act Section 1001 entitled “Order of priority for granting letters of administrations”.

The selection or nomination of an executor, as well as a substitute executor, is a very important aspect of Will preparation. Such person, once appointed by the Surrogate’s Court, is in charge of handling all estate affairs. This includes determining and collecting estate assets, paying expenses, resolving estate claims and liabilities, and ultimately, making distributions to the estate beneficiaries.

An executor is essentially the chief operating officer regarding all aspects of the estate. He must deal with lawsuits concerning the decedent’s affairs and select and interact with accountants and attorneys needed to perform services in furtherance of estate settlement. The New York Probate Lawyer Blog has published many articles regarding estate fiduciaries and administration issues.

December 9, 2021

How to Obtain Payment as a Beneficiary of an Estate or Trust

by Jules M. Haas

There are numerous situations where a beneficiary of an estate or trust in New York is entitled to receive his distribution. An estate may be in existence where the decedent left a Last Will and Testament providing for various bequests. When a decedent dies intestate without a Will, his distributees are entitled to receive their distributive share of the estate.

Another common situation occurs where a person creates a Living or Grantor Trust during life. Under the terms of the trust, when the grantor dies, the trust principal is directed to be paid to persons named in the trust.

While the above circumstances are not all inclusive, the common factor is that the designated beneficiaries of an estate or trust want to receive their allotted share. I have been involved in many cases in the New York Surrogate’s Courts concerning this issue. The New York Probate Lawyer Blog contains numerous posts relating to estate matters. Here are a few suggestions regarding proceedings to facilitate payment.

December 2, 2021

Should a Person Become an Executor or Administrator – Some Considerations

by Jules M. Haas

Following the death of an individual, there may be a need to create a formal estate to deal with the decedent’s assets and affairs. The creation of an estate is typically either a probate estate where the decedent leaves a Last Will and Testament or an administration estate where the decedent dies intestate.

There are different methods to determine the identity of the individual who is to be appointed as the estate fiduciary. In the case of a probate where there is a Will, the document provides for the nomination of an executor. When there is no Will, the New York estate laws, specifically, Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act Section 1001 entitled “Order of priority for granting letters of administration,” provides the direction as to who can be appointed as estate administrator. In either situation, the initial consideration for the person who might be appointed as fiduciary is whether they understand the responsibility about to be accepted and whether they want to accept the position.

Acting as an estate fiduciary is a big responsibility. The executor or administrator must process a petition through the Surrogate’s Court to effectuate the appointment. This process may entail a lot of work, particularly in cases where there may be a Will contest, kinship issues or disputes among parties as to whom should be appointed by the Court. In all of these matters, the assistance of experienced estate lawyers familiar with Surrogate’s Court litigation should be obtained.