The complexities of New York City real estate rules and regulations found their way into a recent decision by the Appellate Division ,First Department  in In re Joy Trezza reported at 923 N.Y.S.2d 108. Here, the court upheld the decision of Surrogate Troy Weber which denied the turnover petition of  Francine Horowitz, a landlord attempting to gain possession of a coop apartment occupied by  the alleged common law spouse of the decedent.Continue Reading Surrogate Denies Landlord’s Turnover Proceeding

Today’s New York Law Journal  reports that Nassau County Surrogate Edward J McCarty has found an interesting solution to an interesting problem in the Will of Jean Santoro, 2011-363-36488(May3.Apparently, there were no affidavits given by the witnesses to Ms. Santoro’s will when she executed it 19 years ago. To make things worse, one witness had disappeared and the other had died. While the old common  law rule  permits the admission of a will to probate where it is an "ancient " document of more than 30 years, this will hardly qualifies as ancient. It even falls a year short under the federal rule which provides for 20 years.Continue Reading Surrogate Admits 19 Year Old Will To Probate Without Witness Affidavits –Sometimes You Can Bend The Rules (A Little)

The late and great comedian George Carlin had a hilarious routine about "stuff". He would expound upon the way in which we continue to accumulate possessions as we go through life and the problems of storing (sometimes you have to buy a bigger house) or traveling with an ever-expanding collection of "stuff". On that dark, dark day when one can no longer fog a mirror with one’s breath, it becomes necessary to make a final disposition of all of that "stuff". In a nutshell, that is what the probate process is basically about.Continue Reading A Dissertation On “Stuff” –The Probate Procedure Simplified

In its decision in In Re Estate Of Walker914N.Y.S.2d 379, the Appellate Division’s Third Department has reminded us just how hard it can be to successfully challenge a will. The court reversed a decision of the Delaware County Surrogate denying a petitioner’s motion for summary judgment dismissing objections to the decedent’s will.Continue Reading Appellate Court Re States The Difficulty Of A Will Contest

The New York Law Journal has reported a decision in which the Appellate Division’s First Department has upheld a decision of New York County Surrogate Kristen Booth Glen recognizing the right of a same sex spouse to inherit. The case is In Re Estate Of Kenneth Ranftie decided on February 24th.Continue Reading Same Sex Spouse Ruled Survivor and Sole Distributee

Today’s Miami Herald reports on the steady increase in pet trusts. Forty three states, including New York, have laws enabling the creation of a pet trust to provide for the welfare of a beloved cat or dog (no reason why one can’t also provide for a parakeet or fish) after its owner has passed away (Yes, yes, I recognize that there is a real question as to whether the human owns the pet or it’s the other way around. This is especially true with cats!). Continue Reading Popularity Of Pet Trusts On The Rise

Today’s New York Law Journal brings news of yesterday’s Court of Appeals decision in Alice Kramer v. Phoenix Life Insurance Co (decision No. 176) . The court has decided that New York law does not prohibit an insured from procuring a policy on his own life and immediately transferring the policy to a person without an insurable interest in the insured’s life, if the insured did not ever intend to provide insurance protection for a person with an insurable interest in the insureds life. This was a question certified to the Court by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.Continue Reading Court Of Appeals Upholds “Stranger Insurance”

A recent Post in the North Carolina Estate Planning Blog provides some good tips about when it is a good idea to revise your will. I would add another suggestion that it is probably also a good idea to do this whenever you move to a new state. Although a will is "ambulatory" (the will you properly executed in Oshkosh will be just as valid in Timbuktu), different states have different rules and procedures on the qualifications of fiduciaries and the need to produce witnesses . Revising your will in a new state and using local witnesses will greatly reduce any problems which could arise if a witness is needed to give testimony to have the will admitted to probate.Continue Reading When Is It Time To Revise Your Will?