Your parents took care of you when you were young, and now as they age you find yourself in a position where you need to take care of them. Sometimes this can be done at home for a while, but for many in Williamsville, the best choice is to put your elderly parent in...
Estate Planning And Administration
Should I choose a relative or a professional to serve as trustee?
Trusts are a popular estate planning vehicle for many in New York. They allow a person to pass their assets on to their heirs, with contingencies if they wish. In addition, trusts remain private and assets in a trust bypass probate -- an otherwise costly,...
Intestate succession in New York
Intestate succession is not a legal concept that many New Yorkers are familiar with. It refers to the system of beneficiaries that state law recognizes when a person dies without a valid will. If an individual owns property or assets at the time of their death and...
Upcoming election sparks estate planning updates
For many New Yorkers, creating an estate plan does not necessarily mean the process is completed once they have prepared the documents. Updating the plan to address life changes is also important. These changes can be within the family or based on outside...
How small estates impact estate planning and probate in New York
People in New York State who are thinking about the future and gauging the importance of estate planning might have preconceived notions about it. The news is rife with people who had significant assets and left an estate plan – a will or trust – that heirs or...
Digital assets should not be missed when it comes to estate planning
Many Buffalo area residents have taken the time to complete their estate plan. They understand that having an estate plan in place is important in order to preserve a person’s assets, communicate their wishes and designate powers of attorney. In addition to these...
What is probate, and what does the process entail?
Probate is a term – more specifically a legal process – that many people don’t fully understand until they confront it up close and personally. That is, probate’s details and particulars often don’t become clear for affected individuals...
Key factors that often spur estate planning decision making
Here’s a time-honored truism about estate planning for New York residents and other individuals across the country: It is seldom the case that any person gets proactive about crafting a strategy and plan absent some motivating factor for doing so.That’s...
Comprehensive estate planning: often more than just a will
What exactly is estate planning? And what does it encompass?Those are seemingly simple questions. Candidly, though, they don’t offer up easy responses that point to any similar-in-every-case answer. In fact, the legal realm of estate planning and administration...