Author Archives: Jay Butchko
How to Challenge a Will
New York law gives you the right to decide who will become the beneficiaries of your estate. If you die without a will, the probate court will distribute your property to your closest surviving relatives, and only if the court reasonably determines that you do not have any surviving relatives who can be located… Read More »
New Report Identifies the Bronx as an Alzheimer’s Disease Hot Spot
Deciding who will inherit your stuff after you die is only one aspect, as are the daydreams about traveling the world and spoiling your grandchildren. An important task in estate planning is making plans that will reduce the financial and emotional strain on your family in the event that you suffer a chronic illness… Read More »
Insolvent Estates: Facing the Reality While You Are Alive
Your life is nothing like the pictures that you see on estate planning brochures. Those moonlit walks on the beach require health and wealth that you have not possessed in many years and have little hope of possessing in the future. You worked for as long as your body could tolerate it and have… Read More »
Young People Can Afford to Procrastinate Some Parts of Their Estate Plans, but Not Others
It is the middle of the night, and you are painfully aware that, one day, you will die. While you are still a youngster compared to the seniors smiling for their close ups on estate planning law websites, you are mature enough to realize that scrolling through social media or trying in vain to… Read More »
Direct Nursing Care in Nursing Homes
Many seniors will spend time in a nursing home at some point. It may be a brief stay, while you recover from surgery, after which you go back home to continue aging in place. Some people reside in nursing homes for years because their health needs require the care of multiple nurses. The early… Read More »
Voluntary Administration of Small Estates
Probate is a hassle. It is like filing your taxes, except that your stepchildren, in-laws, and all the other relatives who never cared for you heckle you at every step of the process. The good news is that there are ways to prevent most of your property from going through a long, drawn-out probate… Read More »
What the Personal Representative of an Estate Can and Cannot Do
New York law gives you a lot of control over what happens to your property after you die. You can leave property to anyone you choose and disinherit any family member you wish to disinherit; the only person who can claim an inheritance regardless of what your will says is your surviving spouse. Meanwhile,… Read More »
Estate Planning for June Brides
A principle of estate planning states that, whenever there is a new addition to your family, you should update your estate plan. For example, if you wrote your will before you became a grandparent, you should update it to account for your grandchildren. Do they inherit directly from you only if their parents predecease… Read More »
You and Your Spouse Can Write a Joint Will, but You Probably Shouldn’t
You can do almost anything with your estate plan, but some of the estate planning moves that it is legal to make are inadvisable in most contexts. For example, it is possible to qualify for Medicaid nursing home benefits by spending down your assets at least five years before you apply for Medicaid, but… Read More »
What You Do With Your Valuable Personal Property Now Is As Important As Who Inherits It
Estate planning checklists tend to be very specific when it comes to official documents, money, and real estate. They will tell you to write a will, designate a personal representative, and include instructions for the final disposition of your remains. They will advise you to keep as many assets as you can out of… Read More »