COMMON PROBLEM There is much talk lately of how to deal with email, facebook, twitter accounts, et cetera of people who pass away. For those of us who have friends or family who passed away and see their facebook account send a reminder to all of their friends on their…
PRINCE APPARENTLY DID NOT HAVE A WILL The world learned recently that Prince joined the long list of celebrities who passed away intestate or without a will. Some of the names on the list are surprising, others not so. The Honorable Salvatore Phillip “Sonny” Bono, Michael Jackson, Howard Hughes, Abraham…
As was outlined in the most recent blog posting, if you compare the costs and benefits of creating a will now versus passing away intestate, there is no doubt that the benefit is huge and the cost is small. It is thus high time to explore New York’s intestacy laws…
FURTHER CHANGES MAY BE NEEDED When a person receives an asset via the probate process, the transaction must be reported to the IRS, even if it does not trigger any tax liability as to the estate or the recipient. This is because the IRS needs to track the basis of…
ORDER OF PAYMENT It should not be a surprise to anyone that when someone passes away, their estate must pay for all legally binding outstanding debt owed by the decedent just prior to passing. New York as well as just about every other jurisdiction has laws that address how the…
SOME PLANNING IS BETTER THAN NO PLANNING In 2014 Pew charitable trust published a study that showed that fewer Americans are entering into marriage in the first place, fewer than ever before. Currently the number of people over the age of 25 who were never married is at approximately 20%.…
CHANGE IN APPROACH BY IRS BUT STILL SOUND ESTATE PLANNING CONTINGENCY It is obvious that no one knows when they will shake off their mortal coil and pass from this earthly realm. The IRS and the law in general consult their own mortality tables to guide certain decisions. These tables…
PASSING THE FARM IS LIKE PASSING ON THE FAMILY CORPORATION There is no doubt that some modern farmers run large multi-million dollar operations right in their backyard. Maintaining a herd of cows and other grazing stock costs potentially millions to buy or lease (or both) land for the animals to…
BEST LAID PLANS DO NOT ALWAYS WORK OUT A case with an interesting factual background came out of Texas recently. While it was based on Texas law and the case is binding in only Texas, the legal principles discussed by the Court are equally applicable to New York or any…
SUBSTANTIVE PROOF NEEDED The issue of consent and state of mind touches upon perhaps some of the most personal and human issues imaginable. This blog explored issues related to the capacity necessary for a person to create a will. Passing on the bounty of your work to your loved ones…