It isn’t every day that the State of New York gives residents a break but that is what happened on March 27th with the repeal by the state legislature of the new medicaid regulations which expanded the definition of an "estate" for the purposes of medicaid recovery. We now return to the prior definitions in effect prior to last September which limit assets subject to recovery to those within the  estate of a decedent which would pass either by will or by intestacy. Additionally, the proposed elimination of spousal refusal was eliminated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading New York’s Expanded Medicaid Regulations Repealed

As reported in today’sWall Street Journal , the hundred million dollar estate of socialite Brooke Astor, who died in 2007, has finally been settled after what can only be seen as a "long strange trip". Ms. Astor’s case first hit national headlines when her son Anthony Marshall was accused of the most egregious acts of elder abuse after it was found that he literally kept his mother in abject squalor on her Westchester  County estate. Later events ultimately led to the conviction of both Marshall and his lawyer Frank X Morrissey on multiple felony charges for their scheme to loot her estate. Most of the estate has been left to various charities including the New York Public Library, New York University, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art among others.

Continue Reading Brooke Astor’s Estate Is Settled

In spite of all of the claims and controversy swirling around the death of the entertainment icon Whitney Houston, her will shows that she planned ahead and took steps to insure that her daughter Bobbi Kristina would be financially protected and provided for. As fellow blogger Bradley Anderson reports here,  Houston was aware that her eighteen year old daughter was already dealing with many of the same demons which plagued her own life, having had bouts with the effects of drugs and alcohol. Add to that the real possibility that one of the less reliable and trustworthy folks in the circle surrounding Houston could gain control of the singer’s estate and dissipate the assets, she chose the route of a testamentary trust. Thus she sidestepped the dangers of an estate fight with ex-husband Bobby Brown. While our reach from the grave to protect our loved ones is indeed finite, a well-constructed trust can help focus and safeguard assets for the benefit of a child already deprived of the guidance of a loving parent.

The Detroit Free Press reports on the the latest twist in the continued litigation involving the Rosa Parks estate. Since her death in 2005, Ms Parks’ nieces and nephews have been at odds with the estate’s personal representatives about the disposition of her property, papers, photos and other mementos with an estimated value as high as ten million dollars although the estate is valued by some to be at no more than four million dollars.

Continue Reading Probate Judge Orders Rosa Parks Estate Not To Dispose Of Property Without His Permission

For those clients who have been known to complain that their legal matters have dragged on interminably, your faithful lawblogger brings you a story about an estate that has yet to be settled after a mere 351 years! As the law blog of the New Jersey firmDonnelly Ritigstein reports, there is major litigation going on in the estate of John  Payne who died long before our nation was born.

Continue Reading 351 Year Old Estate Continues to Stir Up Controversy

The Appellate Division has reversed a decision of New York County Surrogate Nora Anderson in the Will of Robin Moles reported at  933 N.Y.S.2d 685 (A.D. 1Dept 2011). She had originally granted the proponent’s motion for summary judgment , dismissing the objections of the decedent’s nephew who claimed undue influence and a lack of testamentary capacity.The Will disinherited the longstanding beneficiaries of the decedent’s longstanding earlier will.

Continue Reading Circumstantial Evidence Leads To Finding Of Triable Issues Of Fact In Undue Influence Claim

The Matter of Lena A. Greene 932N.Y.S.2D 544 which was decided by Dutchess County Surrogate Pagones and subsequently reversed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court would seem to be pretty close to the model case for a successful will contest. The Appellate Division rightly points out that since the Will contained a self-proving affidavit attesting to the conditions under which it was executed, the petitioner’s had met their burden of proof to establish a prima facie case that the Will had been duly executed. The  Court goes so far as to opine that even though "the record does not indicate that the will execution was supervised by an attorney, or even that an attorney drafted the will" and that there was therefore no "presumption of regularity" the combination of the fact that the Will contained an attestation clause and a self-proving affidavit was sufficient to establish a prima facie case.

Continue Reading Petitioners Establish Prima Facie Case To Admit Will To Probate– But Triable Issues Of Fact Based Upon Medical Evidence Lead Appellate Division To Remand For Trial

New York has revolutionized its medicaid laws and we all have to go back to school! Lawyers and financial planners have always operated upon the assumption that only testamentary assets are subject to claims by medicaid. That is no longer true. The medicaid law revisions now  go beyond the probate and intestate estate to include “any other property in which the individual has any legal title or interest at the time of death, including jointly held property, retained life estates, and interests in trusts, to the extent of such interests.” . No longer can assets be easily shielded by a trust, or by deeding the house to a family member and reserving a life estate. Joint bank accounts appear to be fair game for recovery efforts by the state.

Continue Reading New Medicaid Regulations Create Confusion And Require Revision Of Financial Plans In New York

It is generally well known that when Michael Jackson died, he was on the brink of bankruptcy. Since his death, however, his estate has grown by tens of millions of dollars. For the heirs of James Brown, death has not been nearly as profitable an experience.

Continue Reading Death Has Turned Out To Be Less Profitable For James Brown Than It Has Been For Michael Jackson

Steve Jobs was not able to avoid death but he had considerably better luck with taxes. As John Palley reports in his firm’sProbate Information Blog, without estate planning, Jobs’ estate would have had probate and tax expenses upwards of 3.5 billion (that’s BILLION  with a "B") dollars but that the judicious use of trusts could have avoided most, if not all, of that amount. Although it is impossible to know exactly what was done to minimize the tax burden on the estate,Palley reports that public property records reveal that various parcels of real property were purchased in the JOBS TRUST and the JOBS, STEVEN P. TRUST.

While the details of Steve Jobs’ financial records are well-shielded from prying eyes ,this would  not be the case if there had been a Will to be admitted to probate where court filings and proceedings are public record. What we have learned is that Jobs and his attorneys were able to avoid substantial estate taxes by using means which you, too might employ simply by planning ahead and contacting a competent estate planning professional. He who waits until the last minute –and we almost never know when that is going to be — will invariably leave headaches of incalculable proportions in , and after, his wake.