New York Probate and Estate Administration Blog

Two individuals and a trust company submitted a counter-application regarding the preliminary letters sent to them for the last will and testament of the decedent. In the will submitted by to the court for probate, one individual and the trust company were named as executors. In their petition, the petitioner's eligibility to serve hold and oversee the assets of decedent is questioned. A New York Probate Lawyer said that the company is agreeing to act alone and not together with the petitioner.

The trust company alleges misconduct on the petitioner's part while acting as the decedent’s attorney-in-fact and co-conservator while she was alive. An attorney-in-fact is a person who is legally authorized to transact business-related transactions in behalf of another. A conservator is a person appointed by court to oversee and mange the financial affairs of a person who is considered as under a legal disability. It is also required that part of the financial accounting is submitted for review. It is said the petitioner did not submit his records to his co-conservators, including the documents and assets of the decedent. He is also charged with preventing access to the decedent's apartment, drawing checks that are payable to himself or cash, and wrongful investment of funds owned by the decedent in Great Britain.

The court states that if there is a good cause it may reverse the instruction of a will to make a person an executor of the estate. In the preliminary letters issued, it is required that it is in its original form. This does not remove the court’s authority for a wise discretion in determining who will be part of the execution of the will. A Manhattan Estate Litigation Lawyer said that leaving out a person named in a later will do not require a full hearing. It can be determined with affidavits as a basis or through a summary hearing. The court says that they prefer to avoid a contest within a contest. The legislature also wants an uncomplicated probate hearing. This is to save on cost and time for the court, and the parties concerned.

A commentary by the Chairman of the Committee on Simplification of New York Probate was cited. It says that nothing is really served by contesting preliminary letters. Appointing a person to take care of the estate immediately is to protect the estate that is the reason why preliminary letters are sent to people mentioned in the will and any addition.

A Manhattan Estate Administration Lawyer said that in their decision, the court stated that due process asserts that the petitioner is as a named executor, and has the chance to answer questions on his ineligibility. There is also no petition that has been submitted to question the validity of the last addition where the petitioner was named. To avoid multiplicity, the court will wait for any contest to the will. If just in case the will or the addition to the will is contested and the probate denied, which is known to happen, then the condition where the petitioner is an executor is gone. If there is no contest on the will, counsel will notify the court and a hearing on eligibility will be set.

Like good lawyers, trustworthy conservators think of their clients first and make sure that their interests are protected. A Manhattan Estate Lawyer can assist conservators in making sure that they do their job well. They are the ones who know the process to make sure while saving time and resources, they are still effective in guarding a client’s estate.

Continue reading "Court Rules on Alleged Misconduct of Co-Conservator" »

In 2010 when a person died, there would have been no estate tax owed, according to a New York Probate Lawyer. He added that in 2010 the estate tax had been repealed.
In 2011, estate taxes will be reinstated but a high amount of $5 million will be set. In the past, two spouses could individually file their own exemptions, which brought this number up to $10 million. The catch was they had to use caution with the way they labeled assets and had “to have bypass trusted drafted by estate planning attorneys”.
Trust preparation costs as much as $5,000 to $10,000. President Obama’s new tax law aims to create decent tax breaks for married couples because spouses can use leftover portions of a deceased spouse’s estate tax on their own exemptions with no trust requirements. This means a taxable estate of $3.5 million that is left behind could be added as part of the $5 million exemption for a later date or time. Families in Manhattan a Queens qualify for these advantages.
A New York Probate Lawyer calls this new tax law a great “portable” feature for estate money and preserving taxes. The only downfall according to some is the fact that the law was only signed for 2011 and 2012. Still, most agree the new law will provide great benefits to most people in the higher tax brackets and will save a lot of money on the potentially expensive trusts they will not have to create during this time.

Continue reading "What new tax laws will mean for married couples, explains New York Estate Planning Lawyers " »

A local Ohio town worries about the effects eliminating the estate tax will have on its overall revenue and future plans.

The town’s financial director says here city receives a large chunk of revenue from estate taxes currently. For example an Estate that’s valued at over $500,000 is taxed at 7 percent. The town gets 80 percent of this revenue and the rest goes to the state of Ohio she added.

This high percentage translates to roughly $5 million per year for the city, said aNew York Estate Planning Lawyer. He went on to say that the city budgets for this currently and without the extra revenue will likely have to find other ways to make cuts. Estate Administration in Manhattan and Queens must take these taxes into account for their clients.

Currently the town has plans for large capital improvements to the tune of $52.6 million over the next decade and was counting on the cash revenue from estate taxes to complete these projects. New York Estate Planning Lawyers commented that the projected tax revenue losses will have to make up in other ways.

“We’ll use up all of our existing estate tax dollars and nothing to replace them with,” said a town official. “We don’t know for sure what will happen and will have to adjust.”

Another official said, “We’re going to have to cut our expenses in order to keep wealthy residents from moving away.”

NY Estate Planning Lawyers anticipate the next council meeting will be mostly about finding other ways for the town to create revenue for itself for future projects.

Continue reading "Loss of Estate Tax translates to loss of major revenue for a local Ohio town, reports New York Estate Planning Lawyers." »

Think that Canadians are exempt from paying estate tax? One New York Estate Planning Lawyer says you could be wrong. Even Canadians who have never so much has set foot on US soil are on the hook for estate tax in many situations, if they don’t take the right precautions in advance.
According to United States tax laws, the estate tax can be levied against any person, regardless of nationality, who owns “US situs property”. This ambiguous term can be applied on a number of different levels, but broadly means anything that exists (either physically, or in some cases hypothetically), within the borders of the United States. A New York Estate Planning Lawyer gave us some examples of what might qualify for the estate tax. An obvious example would be either a house or a tract of land. Less obvious candidates for this tax would be things like bonds purchased from the US government, or stocks in a company headquartered in the United States. Non US residents who own such property can be subjected to the estate tax at the same rate as a US citizen would be. Lawyers in Manhattan and Nassau Count will be glad to counsel their Canadian clients.
For this reason, it’s critically important that as a Canadian citizen you carefully evaluate your tax exposure well in advance. Because ties between the US and Canada are so close, it can be very difficult to sort out your assets, and make an accurate determination, so consider calling a New York Estate Planning Lawyer, who can help walk you through the process.
A New York Estate Planning Attorney can show you how to shift your tax liabilities over to a Canada-based holding company, which will help exempt your family from US tax liability.

Continue reading "Canadians on the Hook for US Estate Tax" »