A divorce changes more than the identity of a spouse. It can affect provisions in a will or trust, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, jointly owned property, and the people designated to administer an estate. New York law automatically addresses some of these issues, but it does not make a comprehensive...

An executor or administrator may know that property is missing from an estate without knowing exactly what happened to it. A bank account may have been closed shortly before death. Jewelry or artwork may have disappeared from the decedent's residence. A relative may have possession of financial records but refuse to...

Not every New York estate requires a full probate or administration proceeding. When a decedent leaves a relatively modest amount of personal property, SCPA Article 13 provides a simplified procedure known as voluntary administration, commonly called a "small estate" proceeding.

The procedure can substantially reduce the formality...

Probating a will can take time. Even an uncontested proceeding may require obtaining jurisdiction over distributees and satisfying questions raised during the court's review. If someone objects to the will, the delay can be considerably longer. Meanwhile, the decedent's property still has to be protected, bills may need attention, investments may...

A beneficiary may become concerned that a trustee is withholding information, mishandling trust property, favoring one beneficiary, or allowing personal conflict to interfere with administration. These concerns may justify court intervention, but dissatisfaction alone does not ordinarily establish grounds for removal.

Removal of a trustee is also...

A valid will may clearly state who receives the estate, yet the person named as executor may be unable or unwilling to serve. The named executor may have died, renounced the appointment, become ineligible, or simply failed to qualify. In other cases, the will may not name an executor at all.

A recurring problem in New York estate litigation begins with an alleged promise.

A child claims that a parent promised them the family home if they remained nearby and provided care. A longtime companion says the decedent promised that they could continue living in a residence after...

Most people preparing an estate plan can readily identify their house, bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement assets, and personal property. What is often overlooked is the substantial amount of information and property that now exists only in digital form or is accessible primarily through an online account.

Many people assume that naming an executor in a will guarantees that the named individual will eventually administer the estate. In practice, that is not always what happens. Executors sometimes die before the testator, become incapacitated, decline to serve, cannot be located, or become otherwise unable to act.

Many people believe that once a revocable trust has been signed, the planning process is complete. The trust agreement is executed, the estate planning binder is assembled, and the client leaves believing that probate avoidance has been accomplished.

Unfortunately, that assumption is often incorrect.