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This past January, back when your 401lk was a bit fatter, the SECURE Act came into being, probably to make us somewhat less secure. Basically, this new act shortens the time you have to take distributions from  your retirement accounts to ten years with some exceptions for payments to certain “eligible designated beneficiaries”. Therefore, while…

Over the past several years, the budget axe has fallen upon our Surrogate’s courts. The loss of personnel has resulted in huge backlogs in clerks’ offices. A simple application for  Letters of Administration may  literally  take months during which time it may be impossible to insure property of the estate. An application to sell the…

New York has approved an amendment to SCPA 1301 which raises the limits for small estates from thirty thousand dollars to fifty thousand dollars. A small estate is a simplified proceeding in the Surrogate’s Court where it is possible to qualify as a Voluntary Administrator by downloading and filing a basic affidavit  of Voluntary Administration…

Today’s New York Daily News reports the tale of a brawl with potentially  wide-reaching implications for the Administrator of a New York County Estate. The administrator of the 3.1 million dollar estate was arrested for a brawl outside of a New Jersey strip club in which he has  been accused of assaulting a police officer.…

The decision of the Appellate Division’s Second Department to reverse Suffolk County Surrogate John  Czyger in the Matter of Kohn reported at http://2016 NY Slip Op 07194 involves a dispute over the meaning of a pre-nuptial agreement.  No tears here for the respondent wife who sought to sought a judgment entitling her to recover $3,500,000…

Oneida County Surrogate Louis Vigliotti’s decision in the Estate of Patricia Powers    is one more example of what happens when you write on a will —-generally nothing. Here it appears that the testator wrote a note on the face of the Will that she was revoking it and writing a new will (which she apparently…

Twenty years ago, we always told our clients to make an inventory of their important information, give a copy to a child or trusted family member and leave a copy in a secure place for safekeeping. It’s amazing how much has changed in such a short time but that advice given today would be a…