Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Portability of the Estate Tax Exemption Between Spouses: Is It Worth Electing
Married couples often assume that whatever one spouse does not use of their estate tax exemption will automatically carry over to the other. At the federal level, that assumption is correct, but only if the surviving spouse’s executor takes a specific, timely step. In New York, the same assumption is simply wrong. Understanding the… Read More »
When an Irrevocable Trust Can (and Cannot) Be Modified Under New York Law
The word “irrevocable” sounds absolute, and many clients assume that once they sign an irrevocable trust instrument, its terms are frozen forever. That is not quite true. New York law gives grantors, trustees, and beneficiaries several legitimate paths to change an irrevocable trust when circumstances shift, even though the trust cannot simply be torn… Read More »
Handshake or Gavel? Closing the Books on a New York Trust
Every trust eventually reaches the point where the trustee has to show the work. Money came in, money went out, investments rose and fell, and the beneficiaries are entitled to see how it all adds up. New York gives trustees two ways to settle that accounting. One is private, fast, and inexpensive. The other… Read More »
No Health Care Proxy? New York Has Already Picked Someone for You
Most people assume that if they never signed a health care proxy, nobody has the authority to speak for them in a hospital. The reality is closer to the opposite. New York has a default answer to the question of who decides, and it is written into state law as a ranked list. The… Read More »
Does Your Estate Plan Require Your Children to Sell Their Childhood Home?
In crafting your estate plan, you have probably put a lot of thought into protecting your children from financial burdens. Maybe you have been giving cash gifts to family members for as long as you have been able to afford it, to make sure that your estate is not subject to federal estate tax…. Read More »
The Elder Care Financial Crisis Can Begin Long Before a Medical Emergency
There are plenty of ways to measure the vast divide between the fortunate few and everyone else. You have managed to live a happy life by being at peace with the fact that everyone has finite financial resources. Most of the time, it does not cause you great emotional distress. You are fine with… Read More »
Who Gets Paid for Probate?
It’s easy to pinpoint how much time you spend on your job and how tiring it is. This is especially true in jobs where work supervisors text you and email you at all hours of the day and night; a salaried employee’s work is never done. What makes things more exhausting is that a… Read More »
Ancillary Probate Blues
Having roots in more than one place is common these days, and people adjust their rites of passage to reflect this reality. For example, you might have several birthday celebrations, one with your family and one with your coworkers, especially if you expect that things would be tense in a joint celebration because the… Read More »
How to Revoke an Irrevocable Trust
When you start reading online about trusts, they sound like the best of all possible worlds. A trust can make your property invisible to the probate court and to creditors. It is like creating a doppelganger of yourself that gets to spend your money but doesn’t have to pay taxes. Mortality has no effect… Read More »
Decanting a Trust
People who can afford to retire are the lucky few, but there are clear signs if you are one of them. For example, if you have ever decanted anything, and known that this was what you were doing, you have probably accumulated enough wealth to have access to the finer things in life. Decanting… Read More »