Today’s New York Daily News  calls attention to a problem that may not surface all that often but is always ugly when it does. Following up on its series of articles about 104 year old socialite Brooke Astor which I have reported on here, the News has turned to Ms. Astor’s lawyer, 63 year old Francis Morrissey who was hired by her son Anthony Marshall to replace the venerable and well-reputed law firm of Sullivan Cromwell which had represented her for forty years. Continue Reading Spotlight Shifts To Brook Astor’s Attorney

Today’s New York Times  reports that one of the more cynical attempts at drastically cutting the estate tax has gone down to defeat in the Senate.  Proponents of repeal in the House had linked an increase in the minimum wage to the new tax cut proposal which failed in the Senate by four votes. It should not pass without notice that one of the big losers here is Majority Leader Bill Frist (R- Tenn) whose estate (consisting of his interest in his family’s share of Health Corporation of America) would save  literally tens of millions of dollars if the measure had passed.

Your faithful blogger understands that many out there are slow to characterize this as a "war on the middle class" but I am slow to find any other appropriate adjectives to describe a situation where a much-needed increase in the minimum wage is linked to an estate tax cut which will benefit far less than 1% of taxpayers while further concentrating wealth in the hands of fewer Americans and creating a revenue shortfall that the rest of us in far more mundane income brackets will have to make up.

Death may be a good excuse for not showing up for work in the morning but it will not always relieve one of the obligations spelled out in a contract. Such was the case in the matter of Di Scipio v. Sullivan 816 N.Y.S.2d 577 recently decided by the Third Department of New York’s Appellate Division. Continue Reading Death Fails To Relieve Estate of Obligations Contracted For During Decedent’s Lifetime

Following last week’s breaking news story reported here about the alleged mistreatment of 104 year old socialite and heiress Brooke Astor, New York’s Supreme Court has stepped in and appointed Ms. Astor’s longtime friend  and protegee Annette de la Renta as her temporary guardian. This morning, it was reported that Ms. Astor has left a Manhattan hospital for the cushier surroundings of her estate at Briarcliff Manor where her son –and former guardian– 82 year old Anthony Marshall was turned away when he attempted to visit.

 

Continue Reading New Temporary Guardian Appointed For Socialite Brooke Astor

The terrorist attacks of September 11th have begun to impact our legal system as various cases dealing with claims of survivors of victims have been wending their way through the courts. In a matter of first impression, the Second Department of New York’s Appellate Division has upheld a lower court determination which denied the summary judgment motion of a personal representative in the matter of Cruz v. McAneney 816 N.Y.S. 2d 486.

Continue Reading Domestic Partner’s Claim for 9/11 Benefits Allowed To Go Forward

Today’s New York Daily News reports the ultimate trust beneficiary’s nightmare which has befallen none other than 104 year old socialite Brook Astor.  Although she is the beneficiary of a 45 million dollar trust from the estate of her late husband which pays her an estimated 2 million dollars annually, Astor’s 82 year old son Anthony Marshall has evidently refused to apply these massive assets to provide his mother with even the most basic level of support, Continue Reading Trusting Your Trustee –A Cautionary Tale

In Terrorem ("no contest") clauses are pesky little short –but often sharp– spikes which must be treated with extreme caution lest they deprive a beneficiary of any rights under the will. Such was the case in In re Bernstein v. Lo Pata decided by Nassau County Surrogate John Riordan and reported in the New York Law Journal on May 30, 2006 at page 45. Continue Reading In Terrorem Clause Enforced Disenfranchising Beneficiary

The Fourth Department of  New York’s Appellate Division has expanded the rights of nonmarital children to inherit. In the Matter of Uhl,628 a Surrogate’s Court had earlier determined that Lora Elkins and Sally Himelsbach were not entitled to inherit a portion of their cousin’s estate after she died intestate in 2003 leaving six cousins. The lower court found that four of the decedent’s cousins on the decedent’s father’s side were able to establish their rights as distributees but that Ms. Elkins and Ms. Himelsbach were ineligible to do so because they had been unable to prove their parents had been married at the time of their births.

Under existing law at the time their father died in 1953, the sisters would have been precluded from inheriting from their father or his "kindred". Their father was the decedent’s maternal grandfather, thereby placing them as cousins on the decedent’s mother’s side .

Continue Reading Appellate Ruling Expands Inheritance Rights of Nonmarital Children

A decision of Nassau County Surrogate John Riordan in Estate of Grace De Lutri 324441 recently published on June 22 in the New York Law Journal determined that a decedent’s 1982 will was revoked by the express terms and operation of law of her subsequent 1989 will.  Continue Reading Express Terms of Subsequent Will Found to Revoke an Earlier Will

Choosing a testamentary trustee can be a difficult task. Your trustee has the job of administering the assets of your trust for the benefit of loved ones long after you are gone. In effect, the trustee is the hand that reaches beyond the grave on your behalf. Your choice of trustee should merit your most serious consideration.

Continue Reading Choosing A Testamentary Trustee