When is the executor nominated by the decedent in a will deemed unfit to serve as executor? Rarely – but a recent decision in Surrogates Court set forth the standard and deemed the nominated executor in that case unfit to...more
On February 14, 2025, I will be speaking at the Suffolk Academy of Law’s annual Elder Law Update, addressing current developments in artificial intelligence (“AI”) that are relevant to trusts and estates practice, among other...more
When reforming a will or trust, the Surrogate’s Court “changes the language of the will [or trust instrument] itself by the addition or deletion of words in an attempt to conform [the instrument] to the decedent’s intent”...more
In 2021 and 2022, I wrote about Surrogate’s Court decisions that addressed the admission of remotely witnessed wills to probate in New York State. Since then, Surrogate’s Courts have issued at least two more decisions...more
This newsletter is intended to keep readers informed about developments in probate and fiduciary litigation in Massachusetts and New York. ...more
In January 2021, I wrote about Broome County Surrogate David H. Guy’s decision in Matter of Ryan, in which Surrogate Guy addressed the admission of a remotely witnessed will to probate in New York State. Recently, in Matter...more
March 2022 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split-Interest Charitable Trusts....more
February 2022 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split-Interest Charitable Trusts....more
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced litigants to wrestle with the dilemma of waiting for a jury trial or moving forward more expeditiously by way of a bench trial. Recently, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and the...more
This newsletter is intended to keep readers informed about developments in probate and fiduciary litigation in Massachusetts and New York. Decedent’s New York Residence at Time of Death Does Not Create Jurisdiction in New...more
In an April 2020 post to this Blog entitled “The Remote Witnessing of Estate Planning Documents during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” my colleague Cheryl L. Erato addressed Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order authorizing the remote...more
March 2020 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - Important federal interest rates continue to hold relatively steady. The March Section 7520...more
On September 15, 2019, Ric Ocasek, singer, songwriter, and guitarist of The Cars, died in his Manhattan residence. He was found that morning by his wife, Paulina Porizkova, a supermodel and celebrity in her own right, as she...more
October 2019 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split-Interest Charitable Trusts - The October Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs,...more
Like business divorce, New York trusts and estates litigation (“T&E”) is a highly specialized niche of the law. T&E litigators have their own universe of substantive law, their own set of procedural rules – the Surrogate’s...more
As parties prepare for trial before the Surrogate’s Court, a question that oftentimes arises is whether the parties have a right to a trial by jury. The right to a jury trial is anything but universal in Surrogate’s Court...more
February Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The February § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs...more