SPRING CLEANING TIME MEANS CLEARING OLD PAPERWORK With tax day over and the need to collect and forward any number of financial and tax documents to the government and with the coming of spring, it is time to turn to spring cleaning. The question should be asked, what paperwork…
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PERSON AND STEPS TO TAKE As noted in a previous blog, being an executor of an estate can be a thankless job. There are ways, however, that can allow you to make the job and life of an executor easier and less painful. It is a…
LARGE NEED TO REDUCE AND PREVENT FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION The American Bankers Association is looking to serve a large market that is only getting larger by the day. At the same time, they are working to shore up the larger financial markets in a larger effort to prevent financial fraud…
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…
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…
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…