If you think you don’t have a will, think again. You do. It may not be the one you wanted, but you have one. It’s the one that New York State (or Florida) thinks you want to have. You may not like that kinship generally governs the distribution of your assets. You may have a […]

Movies, television, and books like to present wills in dramatic ways–handwritten notes, videos, deathbed utterances–but what actually makes a will valid? The law varies depending on what state you live in, but there are some basic rules. The legal requirements for a will are fairly simple. In order for your will to be valid, you […]

A will which has been admitted to probate is presumed to have been made free from restraint. As a result, a very high threshold must be set to establish that a decedent was unduly influenced or lacked testamentary capacity. A decision from a recent case from the Supreme Court of Ohio, Young v. Bellamy, shows just […]

Although first responders experience illness, injuries and death every day, they are often hesitant to address having a living will prepared for themselves. A living will or advance directive provides instructions about your end-of-life care. It can include as much or as little direction as you want, such as using pain-relieving treatments, do not resuscitate […]

If you die without a will, it you may be putting your grandchildren’s ability to get scholarships or student loans for college at risk. Here’s what happens: You die without a will or creating an estate plan. Your assets are now under the care of New York State, which will make the decisions about how […]

Understanding what happens when you die may help you understand the intricacies of your estate and make planning both simpler and more effective. No one likes to plan for his or her death, but it’ll happen to all of us, says The Reading Eagle Business Weekly in the article “Make a will, plan for distribution of assets.” You […]

Here’s a teachable moment that should convince anyone that they really need to have a will and an estate plan in place. It is based upon a real case I wrapped up earlier this week after a delay of over 5 years. A married couple, Bubbe, and Zaydi (not their real names) had five children, […]

No one wants to plan for his or her own demise, especially if you’ve just welcomed a new baby or just gotten married. But if you don’t have an estate plan, now is the time to create one. An estate plan is a series of legal documents created with a qualified estate planning attorney that […]