Blog Post Archives - Law Offices of Daniel Timins

Living Wills in New York May be Useless

Posted on November 14, 2024

There are few rational reasons to having a Living Will in New York, almost no legal benefits to having one, and Living Wills may cause more confusion than guidance in your final days of life. There are several misperceptions concerning what a Living Will actually is. For starters, the very name “Living Will” is a misnomer: It is neither a living document (because it discusses your desire to have someone “pull the plug” on life sustaining measures), nor is it a will (a document which distributes property upon your death). Some people refer to this document as an “Advanced Directive”, but I am pretty sure the Advanced Directive is a Star Trek term regarding Captain Kirk’s alien kissing fetish or

Chadwick Boseman: Why (I Think) He Didn’t Have a Will

Posted on November 25, 2020

We view one measure of the tragedy experienced by another person’s death based on the age they died. So the passing of Chadwick Boseman at age 43 was in some ways more saddening than the recent passing of Sean Connery who was 90 (especially if you also consider Connery’s painfully-candid interview with Barbara Walters which, if you haven’t seen it, may also make you a little less saddened by his passing). Of course, we can also view that level of tragedy by that person’s estate planning, or lack thereof, and the media certainly jumped on the fact Boseman died without a Last Will and Testament. But based on a string of unfortunate circumstances and facts not reported by the media,

Should I Change My Tax Planning Before the Election?

Posted on October 30, 2020

Biden, Trump, McConnell, Pelosi, who will win? Does a “Blue Tide” really mean more taxes on you? And if there is a Democrat trifecta in the Administration and Congress, what are they going to do with taxes? Do you secretly want to see Chris Cuomo fight Tucker Carson in a steel cage match to determine the winner of the 5th Congressional District? What can you do to protect your assets now!??! My take: Who knows, so do not rush to do anything dumb. Betting on who will win elections and basing tax planning on assuming what policies the not-yet-winners will follow has proven time-and-again to be a waste of brain power. Some of the worst tax savings strategies have

On My Second Marriage…with Children from My First

Posted on October 21, 2020

I’ve got news for half of you out there: You are going to get divorced (or are happily already divorced, he didn’t deserve you anyway). Approximately 50% of New York couples I meet have been divorced and most are on their second (and sometimes third) marriage. The desire to take care of one’s spouse, especially the spouse that spent her “golden years” with you sounds fair: While your first spouse was there for you during some of the most active years of your life – i.e. back in the days you could order dessert without blowing up like a balloon – they are not there for your aging years when gravity finally takes its toll out on your physique. But hey: You

Hey, Mom & Dad: No One Wants Your Stuff

Posted on August 7, 2020

No one wants your stuff after you die. Your restored love seat from 1894, your 3rd generation silverware and fine china dining set, your mud-stained Jimi Hendrix t-shirt from the Monterey Pop Festival, these cherished items that gave you cherished memories and a sense of purpose on this planet are little more than garbage and a hinderance in the eye of other people. So why is it some people go to such great lengths to leave certain items of personal property to specific individuals? Case in point: I met with a couple who squabbled amongst one-another how to split up the family artwork. These people were not art collectors, they were average Joes and Janes who on a whim bought stuff

You Don’t Really Want an Asset Protection Trust

Posted on July 2, 2020

I get a lot of calls from people asking if I can set up an Asset Protection Trust for them. These people usually owe taxes or child support, are contemplating divorce, have recently been the responsible party in an accident or injury to someone else, or anticipate their risky business practices will lead to lawsuits in the future. Despite what they may think, most people in these situations do not want their property owned by an Asset Protection Trust. Asset Protection Trusts are permitted and created in a handful of states (currently 16) such as Delaware, Nevada, Ohio, Alaska and Rhode Island. Trusts created in other states do not have the same level of protection. The idea is that you

Thinking About Divorce? Sign Your Will First

Posted on May 22, 2020

Unless there is a prenuptial agreement stating your husband or wife gets nothing when you pass away, if you are married when you die your spouse often has several rights to your estate. Some states, such as New York, entitle your spouse to at least 1/3 of your gross estate even if you leave them nothing, and if you own property with them jointly they get all of that property when you die. And even worse, if you don’t do any estate planning your spouse may be the sole beneficiary of your estate. So if your marriage is failing I suggest that you fire the first shot at your partner and disinherit them before you file for divorce. For people

Landlords: Beware of Old, Loner Tenants

Posted on April 28, 2020

New York landlords can have a lot of problems with older tenants. Not only do older tenants often have stabilized rents which leave the landlord with a 75% haircut on the rent they collect, older tenants also tend to call in more complaints against their landlords. And just to stick it to their landlord one last time, older tenants often make it impossible for the landlord to re-lease the apartment for months after their deaths. I know, crying for landlords is like crying for the football fan at the Superbowl because he is watching from a luxury box on the 40-yard line instead of the 50 yard line. And I am probably not going to earn a lot of street

Don’t Piss Off Your Trustee

Posted on February 3, 2020

A colleague of mine contacted me about a legal issue she was dealing with. Her client had created an irrevocable trust for tax minimization purposes, named his brother (a US citizen) and his sister-in-law (a Canadian citizen) as Co-Trustees, signed the Trust and transferred a life insurance policy to the Trust. For some reason, in the brief period between signing the trust and mailing it to the Co-Trustees, the client succeeded in royally pissing off his brother to the point of being told he would rather eat cold rice (in actuality, he was told something far less palatable) than serve as his trustee. Just to add to this problem, the client had already applied for a Tax ID Number for

Dead Before His Time: Kobe Bryant and His Possible Estate

Posted on January 27, 2020

I remember being a college student when I first saw the future phenom of the Los Angeles Lakers play for the first time. He was 16 years old, grew up in Italy, seemed like a good kid, and his relentless drive to win was only equaled by his controlled contorting drives to the basket. I lived in Southern California when Kobe, Shaquille O’Neal, and a host of great supporting players won the Threepeat NBA championships of the 2000s. It was a well-known fact that Bryant’s Give-ME-The-Ball style of play, insistence on taking impossible shots and general separation from his colleagues made him incredibly unpopular with his teammates, but he sunk the big shots and the endorsements came pouring in. Kobe