New York Trusts & Estates Law Blog

Recent Posts from New York Trusts & Estates Law Blog

• Article on Wills, Inheritance & Halacha in Community Magazine

  An article I wrote on yerusha (Jewish Laws of Inheritance) and halachic estate planning was published in the October 2009 issue of Community Magazine. See The Top 10 Questions & Answers About Wills, Inheritance &…

• Will New York revise the power of attorney law again?

  New York’s new power of attorney law will be going into effect on September 1, 2009. While attorneys and other financial professionals update their forms for next week, they should be prepared to have to…

• Halacha and inheritance

  Link to a downloadable lecture by Rabbi Hershel Schachter introducing the major halachic principles regarding wills and inheritance.

• Testamentary capacity and undue influence in criminal proceedings

  Should the Brooke Astor case be a criminal proceeding, or is it better off as a routine will contest?

• An Alzheimer’s program addressing “sundowning”

  The New York Times published an article last week on ElderServe at Night, a night program run by the Hebrew Home at Riverdale for people suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. Quoting from the article: Nighttime can…

• Estate planning basics

  A CNN Money/Fortune Magazine article published yesterday gives a basic overview of some estate planning fundamentals. See How to avoid the ‘death tax’ by Janet Morrissey, 6/4/09. As we’ve mentioned, although the estate tax is…

• The free lunch seminar trap

  A recent Wall Street Journal article by Jennifer Levitz reported that financial scams targeting seniors are on the rise, and states are responding by increasing penalties on scammers. Seizing on fear of stock-market turmoil, sales…

• Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on the estate tax

  Analysis of an interview with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, discussing the estate tax and the moral obligation of the wealthy to society. Should Warren Buffett's philanthropy be done on a taxable basis?

• Dementia and the question of testamentary capacity

  The issue is the mental state at the moment the will was signed, not the testator's overall mental decline. A diagnosis of dementia may be an important indication, but it is not necessarily conclusive.

• Hard work and dumb luck

  My recent post, Tough luck for dumb luck, linked an article by Robert H. Frank which disagreed with the contentions that the tax system strains the vital connection between individual effort and reward. Robert H.…