Five states in the United States recognize the right to die. In those five states, terminally ill patients can be helped to end their lives. The right to die has been referred to by the negative term “assisted suicide.” However, the new movement to help sick, frail, suffering parents end their lives is referred to as “aid in dying.” The aid in … [Read more...]
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts – Part II
Avoiding Estate Taxation on Life Insurance Proceeds To ensure that there is no estate taxation, a life insurance trust must also be the beneficiary of the life insurance policy. Beneficiaries Inherit Even Though Not Named in the Life Insurance Policy Upon your death, the trust will receive the death benefit proceeds from the life insurance … [Read more...]
IRA Distributions and IRS Penalties
If you have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), once you reach the age of 70 ½ years, you must start making distributions out of the account each and every year. Should you fail to make these annual distributions, significant fines are triggered. These fines can equal up to 50% of the money which was supposed to be distributed in that year from … [Read more...]
How To Avoid Probate in New York – Part II
Testamentary Substitutes Payable on death accounts. A payable on death account is a bank account maintained in one individual’s control which has specific instructions about when that individual dies, it gets paid to a specific beneficiary. The beneficiary has no rights until the individual who opened the account dies. Joint ownership … [Read more...]
How To Avoid Probate in New York – Part I
The probate process in New York can involve expenses, time delays and the opening up of family related issues to public scrutiny. There are a number of mechanisms which can be utilized to avoid probate. The following are examples of various types of legal measures which can be utilized to avoid probate: Living trusts. In the State of New York, … [Read more...]
How Estate Litigation Works in Surrogate’s Court – Part II
The Trial The trial will either be conducted before a jury or by a judge. There are certain issues an individual can request a jury for. If the claims at trial are that the executor, administrator or trustee embezzled funds or acted improperly, the court can order that individual to repay the estate or the trust for the funds which were improperly … [Read more...]
How Estate Litigation Works in Surrogate’s Court – Part I
The individual who files a lawsuit against an estate must prove to the court they have a sufficient basis for the lawsuit. Oftentimes individuals come into our office who are unhappy with someone’s will. They seek to challenge the will because they were either left out of the will or didn’t receive their fair share. Unfortunately, being unhappy … [Read more...]
How Do I Avoid Probate?
In some states, the probate process can be long and expensive. Wills, when they are probated, are public documents and anyone can go to the courthouse and view the Will. While there is a valid reason for drafting a Will and having it probated, in some cases this may not be the very best way to handle the transfer of assets from one generation to … [Read more...]
Misconceptions Regarding Wills
To watch today's video blog, please click on the link below: https://youtu.be/XRVj__nSeAY Elliot S. Schlissel is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Elliot and his attorneys have more than 100 years of combined legal experience handling all aspects of estate planning and estate litigation. Please call to schedule a … [Read more...]
Healthcare Proxy
It is suggested today that seniors living in America have healthcare proxies. A healthcare proxy allows an individual to designate another person to help him or her make decisions regarding healthcare in the event he or she becomes incapable of making those decisions. Healthcare proxies are designed to allow a person when they are cognizant of the … [Read more...]
