Category Archives: Estate Planning
Estate Planning Before Buying a Home in New York: What You Should Know
It’s strange how our favorite trends age as we do. Rock music was once considered the exclusive province of young people, and now familiarity with the music of bands like the Beatles and The Who immediately brands you as old. Even the things we considered a universal hallmark of youth, such as dating, have… Read More »
Wills vs. Trusts: Which Is Right for You in New York?
People who are old enough to have gotten started on their estate plans are outspoken about how little they understand generative artificial intelligence, but even we old folks understand that Chat GPT and its imitators do not think; rather, they only remix what humans said in the human-written web content that chatbots use as… Read More »
How to Avoid Probate in New York (and Why You Should)
Despite what you see in the movies, inheriting money does not feel like winning the lottery, at least not the kind of winning the lottery where you just hand your scratch off ticket to the gas station cashier and walk away with the money. The hurdles you must clear to get your inherited money… Read More »
How to Choose the Right Estate Planning Lawyer in New York City
It is possible to build your estate plan from beginning to end without hiring a lawyer, provided that your estate plan is simple. People have the right to represent themselves in many legal matters, including probate, so the personal representative of your estate might be able to settle your estate without a lawyer. Some… Read More »
Is Whole Life Insurance Right for You?
Some New Yorkers are loaded and can afford to live as lavishly in retirement as they did when they were working. With or without selling their luxury condo in Manhattan, they can afford to move into one of those fancy “Boomer enrichment centers” where the staff distract them from the realities of their advancing… Read More »
Should You Front Load Your Retirement With Fun?
When you consider it carefully, “What do you want to do when you retire?” is more than one question. Most people will answer with ideas for travel and adventures, or else long-awaited bucket list items they have long looked forward to accomplishing, such as cooking a Thanksgiving dinner from scratch for the whole family…. Read More »
Back to School Estate Planning: Protecting Your Kids’ Future
During the back-to-school season in August, it is easy to focus on numerous details that only affect the immediate future. You buy as many school clothes as you can before the tax-free shopping days end, even though you know your children will have outgrown them a year from now. You scramble to buy all… Read More »
The Complete Guide to Estate Planning in New York: Wills, Trusts, and More
Estate planning sounds like a big job, and the best estate plan is never finished. Despite this, your estate plan does not have to be complicated to do its job of saving your family from a stressful probate case after you die and from having to make heartbreaking and conflict-prone decisions during your final… Read More »
Charitable Trusts
The beauty of estate planning is that you can use your money to benefit anyone you choose. This is true whether the value of your property is modest, you are fabulously wealthy, or anything in between. There is no rule requiring you to make your family the beneficiaries of your will. If you do… Read More »
Common Reasons for Estate Litigation
Probate lawyers often reassure their clients that probate is a routine process, more like filing an income tax return than being a party in a lawsuit. This is true except when it isn’t. Uncomplicated probate cases account for the majority of estates, but the reason that probate exists is to serve as a venue… Read More »