Justice Alexander W. Hunter sitting in the Supreme Court, Bronx County recently had an unusual case presented to him. A daughter brought a proceeding in a guardianship. She requested the court take action to prevent a court appointed guardian from retaining an attorney to draft and execute a new Last Will and Testament for her father. She took this action because she felt the drafting of this new Will would not be in the father’s best interest.
Justice Alexander Hunter denied her request. In his decision he stated that her arguments were a regurgitation of allegations she made in her initial petition to be appointed the father’s guardian. The court had initially found that the father required the appointment of a guardian of both his person and property. But the court’s decision stated that the court evaluator believed that the guardian should keep the father involved in the decision making processes. He also stated in his decision that the guardian should give the father the greatest amount of independence and self determination with regard to his property management and the maintaining of his personal needs. The court felt that the father’s drafting a new Will and Testament possibly “opened the door to potentially costly and protracted litigation post mortem as being speculative.”
The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have over 100 years experience in the preparation and submission of guardianships to the courts to the courts throughout the metropolitan area. There are two types of guardianships under Article 81 of the New York Mental hygiene Law and Guardians under the Surrogates Court Procedure Act under Article 17-A. The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have extensive experience in handling all aspects of Guardianship petitions on a regular basis in the courts throughout the metropolitan New York area. In addition our law office drafts Wills and Trusts and probates Wills. We assist our clients in Estate Planning matters. We represent Executors in Estates. We also draft Revocable Living Trusts, Irrevocable Living Trusts and engage in all aspects of Medicaid Planning. In situations involving Special Needs children we draft Special Needs Trusts which are also known as Supplementary Needs Trusts.
