New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

Finding Digital Assets When the Will Is Silent As to their Existence

Published on: June 12, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

This is the second part of a series on the estate administration process and tasks an executor must perform in order to carry out the wishes of the deceased person’s will. The first step is obtaining a declaration that the will is valid. The second step is having the Surrogate’s Court appoint the executor, as designated in the will, as the legal administrator of the estate.

For decades now, we have been told that we are living in the digital age. Some early adopters gadgeted up and have a digital life rich with videos, texts, photos, online accounts, and even friends that exist in digital spaces. Many wills are absolutely silent as to the existence of digital assets. Nonetheless, in administering an estate, the executor will be tasked with investigating whether the deceased person maintained any digital assets and then disposing of those digital assets. This post will discuss the special problem of digital assets when the will is silent as to their existence.

The mailbox chronicles

Examining the Truth behind 4 Long Lasting Estate Planning Myths

Published on: June 11, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning is one of the least understood areas of law. One of the commonly overlooked parts of estate planning is the number of people who have the potential to benefit from proper estate planning. The great value of estate planning is not that lets people define their legacies, it also lets people decide the impact that their wishes have on the people they love.

Estate planning also enables people to provide important instructions about health care decisions as well as who will be responsible for making these decisions. In an effort to further explain the truth behind some of the longest lasting and most widely shared estate planning myths, this article explains some of the important details that you should understand about this process.

# 1 – Estate Planning is Only for the Extremely Wealthy

Five Things to Share about Your Estate Plan

Published on: June 9, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

It is important to share details about your estate plan with your loved ones so that they can do their best to make sure that your estate goals can be carried out. Deciding what to share, however, can be difficult. This article discusses several of the important things that you should make sure to tell your loved ones about your estate plans.

# 1 – Whether You Have An Estate Plan

It is important to inform your loved one about any basic estate planning documents that you might have including a last will and testament, power of attorney, health care proxies, or a living will. You might have even decided to create a trust to pass assets to beneficiaries. You should also tell your loved ones about any advance directives including financial or health care powers of attorney that you might have created to address any issues of incapacity.

5 Reasons to Make Sure Your Estate Plan is Routinely Updated

Published on: June 6, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Writing an estate plan is important, but it is not a once and done process. Instead, an estate plan must be reviewed and kept up to date to reflect a person’s goals. Failure to adequately update an estate plan has the potential to result in some very serious obstacles. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the important reasons why you should make sure to update your estate plan.

# 1 – Tax Laws Change Often

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had a substantial impact on estate planning law. There are also various other tax codes that change and impact tax issues related to estate planning. It is critical to make sure that an estate plan is frequently updated to take advantage of these revisions to the tax code as well as to avoid paying more in taxes than one is required.

Why is a Will Important? Part I

Published on: June 5, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Most people should have a will. Wills are the legal mechanism for distributing property, naming guardians for children and exceptional individuals, and cancelling out debts, among other tasks. Having a will guarantees that you, rather than New York State, decide who gets your property and how your affairs would be wound down after you die.

In this series, we will explore all things that get done after a person dies to ensure that his or her final wishes are carried out in accordance with their will. Many people die without a will. There are laws in those instances too, that govern the distribution of property when individuals die without a will. The legal term for situations like that is intestacy. Someone who leaves a will before they die is legally known as the testator; while someone who dies without leaving a will is legally known as intestate. This series will be discussing testators and the distribution of property pursuant to a will only.

Understanding the language of probate

The Basics: 6 Common Estate Planning Errors to Avoid

Published on: June 3, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

There are a number of myths that persist about estate planning. To perform successful estate planning, however, it is critical to learn which of these myths are incorrect. Unfortunately, one of the truths of estate planning is that errors have the potential to result in complications with the administration of a person’s estate. As a result, this article reviews some of the important errors about which a person should remain aware during the estate planning process.

# 1 – Failure to Name a Beneficiary

Even though many people understand the role of a beneficiary, failure to name a beneficiary can result in a number of substantial obstacles including delays and creditor issues. There is also a risk that failure to name a beneficiary will result in a person’s estate being administered in a way that they did not desire.

Deciphering Contradictory Nutritional Information

Published on: June 2, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Every week it seems there is a new health alert about a new study of a common food item that directly contradicts nutritional norms. The latest to catch my attention was a story in USA Today linking hot tea to esophageal cancer. It starts with the headline, “Drink Hot Tea at Your Own Risk: New Study is Latest to Show Link to Esophageal Cancer.”

The summary of the study is much worse. The study in question was published in the International Journal of Cancer. It tracked the habits of more than 50,000 tea drinkers in a province of Iran. Over a 10-year period, 317 new cases of esophageal cancer were diagnosed. The study found that those who drank more than 24 ounces of tea a day at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit had a 90 percent higher risk for esophageal cancer.

From my experience, people either drink coffee or tea. Very few enjoy both equally. Iran happens to be a tea-drinking country. It is ranked 4th in worldwide consumption of tea, behind Turkey, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, the top three tea drinkers in the world. While this specific habit may be true in the lives of the 317 people that were diagnosed with esophageal cancer so is the province they live in. Could the environment have been a contributing factor? We will never know the answer to such a question because it was not studied.

How, Why, and When: On Revising an Estate Plan

Published on: June 1, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

There are several common myths about estate planning. One of these myths is that people who have small estates do not need estate plans. In reality, everyone has an estate. This means that even if you do not believe so or if you only have a small number of possession, it is important to remember that in the eyes of the law you still have an estate. As a result, if you do not have an estate plan, it is always a good time to create one.

A second common myth about estate planning is that it is a once and done process. Instead, a person should always make sure to periodically check an estate plan after it is created. This article explores some of the important facts that people interested in estate planning should know about making revisions to their estate planning documents.

Situations that Warrant Updating an Estate Plan

Using Trusts as an Alternative to Wills

Published on: May 29, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning is never an easy process. Not only does estate planning force a person to face that they will inevitably pass away some day, the estate planning process also requires a person to meet a number of requirements.

Even though they are the most common type of estate planning documents, wills are just one type of tool that is available in the world of estate planning. In some cases, people discover that trusts are a much better option. As a result, this article reviews some of the primary reasons why people select wills instead of trusts.

# 1 – Trusts Save Money and Time

Loneliness

Published on: May 28, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

On April 5, 2019, Kathy Lee Gifford, the co-host of the fourth hour of the Today Show retired after 25-years working in daytime television. In an interview in AARP Magazine, she reflects on loss and loneliness. She states,

“If you’re not careful, what you’ve lost in life can define you. It’s so much better to be defined by what you still have, it’s just healthier. I’m making big changes in my life because I need to, really big changes that are feeding my soul. Otherwise, despair sets in and loneliness can be crippling.” | Kathy Lee Gifford

In the article, Ms. Gifford describes being a widow, losing her mother, and becoming an empty nester, all within months of each other. From a life full of others, she now finds herself home alone. To emerge from this cocoon, she next turns her attention to acting and singing.