A New York resident signs a will leaving most of the estate to children from a prior marriage and only a limited benefit to a current spouse. The decedent also arranged some assets to pass outside probate through joint ownership, beneficiary designations, or trusts. The surviving spouse may assume that the will...

A defendant's failure to answer a lawsuit can create a major procedural advantage for the plaintiff, but it does not automatically produce an enforceable judgment. New York CPLR 3215 requires the plaintiff to take affirmative steps, submit specified proof, and comply with notice requirements that vary with the defendant and the method...

A probate petition can be delayed even when no one intends to contest the will. One common reason is that the family tree is incomplete. The petitioner knows who the beneficiaries are under the will, but cannot identify every person who would inherit if there were no will, or cannot locate one...

A business dispute often begins with a simple accusation: one side says the contract was not honored. Payment was not made, work was not completed, goods were not delivered, a deal was terminated early, or one party says the written agreement does not mean what the other side claims it means.

A second home can be one of the most valuable and emotionally important assets in a family estate. On the East End, a residence that began as a modest seasonal property may now represent a substantial percentage of a family's net worth. The planning problem is rarely limited to deciding who should...

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...