Author Archives: Jay Butchko
The Legal Mechanics of Lost Wills in New York Surrogate Courts
A lost will is a will that is known to have once existed and cannot now be located; and at the same time, it is not known to have been revoked. In short, the will is lost and cannot be found by any of the heirs of the decedent. As a result, the will… Read More »
Planning For Nursing Home Care
Placing an elderly loved one in nursing home care requires a lot of planning. It also involves legal questions surrounding the person’s medical care, finances and his or her estate. Before placing your relative into nursing home care, you must ensure that they have their affairs in order to facilitate a smooth transition. Emergencies… Read More »
How to Disinherit a Loved One
Estate planning is an interesting area of the law. Estate planning is a very personal need for the individuals who engage in the process. However, the legal system has reduced this really personal process to a technical exercise. This is also true for will writing and it is evident in situations where testators want… Read More »
Probate Process in New York’s Surrogate Courts
The probate process takes place in a court of law with limited jurisdiction to hear matters surrounding a person’s death and the settling of his or her affairs. In New York State, the probate process is overseen in what is called the Surrogate Court. The Surrogate Court oversees the distribution of the deceased’s assets… Read More »
Trusts for Low Income, Disabled and Special Needs Individuals
One of the trickiest aspects of leaving property and assets to friends and family members on your death is considering the implications that flow from leaving the gift. Unfortunately, these implications are often overlooked by the person making the gift (especially those not assisted by attorneys) before their death. Tax implications are one of… Read More »
Dos and Don’ts of Will Writing
The first step in the will writing process is submitting to the fact that it is best to write a will at all. This is especially the case for individuals who have a large amount of assets. For most people, it is better to have their property pass by a will than to have… Read More »
Guardianships: An Overview
Caring for an elderly parent, grandparent or friend who has lost their mental capacity can be a difficult undertaking. This is especially the case when the elderly individual cannot be trusted to make sound financial and personal care decisions. The implementation of a guardianship is one of the best courses of action to help… Read More »
Beware Senior Telephone Scams
Recently, one of our senior clients received an urgent telephone call from someone posing as the “son” of her friend. He even used that son’s name. He sounded desperate and was “in trouble with the law” because his car caused property damage. He accidentally left his wallet in the car that was towed away. … Read More »
Combining Estate Planning And Retirement Planning
Oftentimes, estate planning and retirement planning go hand in hand. In order to both have enough money to live on in retirement and have an estate left over to pass on to heirs, it is important to do all this planning hand in hand. One good reason why estate planning when retirement planning is… Read More »
Estate Planning Using A Buy Sell Agreement
When two or more people are considering starting a business together, or are part of closely held business, they should enter into a buy sell agreement. A buy sell agreement is an agreement between business owners that governs what happens to an owner’s shares in the business upon his death or other departure from… Read More »