My practice includes all estate planning services from simple wills to sophisticated estates. We draft trusts and create other planning techniques designed to reduce or eliminate federal and/or state inheritance taxation. We explain and provide irrevocable life insurance trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, grantor retained uni-trusts, charitable remainder trusts, as well as other types of trust and estate planning vehicles.

In the Estate Administration area we typically probate the will, seek to have a person named the administrator of an estate where there is no will and represent the executors and administrators in connection with their administration of the estate and/or trust. It is common for us to represent fiduciaries in connection with the sale of cooperatives, condominiums and real property owned by the decedent prior to death.

We prepare all income and estate tax returns for the decedent, the estate of a decedent and trusts as well as all the accounting documents required of a fiduciary. I handle the estate from beginning to end so that when the estate closes the beneficiaries have released the responsible executor, administrator and/or trustee from any further obligation or responsibility.

We handle will contests, pre-objection discovery of the validity of a will, accounting issues, turnover proceedings, contempt proceedings as well as all other types of miscellaneous proceedings in the Surrogate’s Court both prosecuting and defending in those matters. We partner with litigation counsel in these matters if trial is expected or anticipated.

We represent clients in connection with requests for guardianship of a person who is alleged to be incapacitated and in need of supervision or assistance as well as involuntary commitment proceedings in the Supreme Court.

We advise and prepare health care proxies and health care decisions declarations (living wills).

We advise and prepare documents designating agents for purposes of financial decisions including general durable powers of attorney.

When someone dies without a will and with no close relatives there are often opportunities to claim assets of an estate by the heirs all the way down to the first cousins of the deceased. We bring proceedings for the determination of heirs in Surrogate’s Court and represent the alleged heirs before court attorney referees at hearings to determine who is entitled to the estate.