Wills Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Law Offices of Daniel Timins

The Roadmap to Your Family Should be in Your Will

Posted on June 9, 2017

The cornerstone of Probate, leaving your estate to whomever you want, is almost paradoxical since the process is not as easy as most people think. To the great surprise of heirs that are listed in the Will, the decedent’s descendants (or next closest relatives) must be put on notice during the Probate process to validate the Will. The very concept of the requirement of placing the next of kin on notice is foreign to most clients: Why does a person’s nearest relative, who the Testator may have loathed, still have to be placed on notice of the Probate of the Will, even if that relative is being disinherited? The answer: Our estate laws allow your closest family members the right

“Name That Witness” (to Your Will)

Posted on May 24, 2017

When you execute your Will you MUST have it witnessed by at least two competent adults who are not beneficiaries in the Will. When you die New York’s Surrogate’s Courts require the names of the witnesses to be listed in the Probate Petition. And so it is nothing short of stupefying to me how many Wills have witness signatures that are completely illegible. This is somewhat understandable if you execute your own Will, since non-attorneys are not in the business of drafting Wills. The signers of illegible signatures are also more easily identified in the event it was the Testator’s friends or neighbors who signed (and thus the identities of the witnesses are more easily deduced). But many attorneys’ witnesses

“Don’t Forget About BoBo: Pet Trust for Your Animal Companion”

Posted on May 16, 2017

One of my dearest aging clients have a dog named Bo Bo. Bo Bo is a true companion to this couple: They are in their 90s and have outlived many of their friends, the husband is more mobile than his wife and likes to get physical activity by walking Bo Bo, and the dog is absolutely in love with them. Bo Bo also smells bad, barks at the littlest disturbance, is a manic that constantly jumps on visitors, (and gets slobber and fur on my suit, which needs to be dry cleaned after every single visit) and is begrudgingly tolerated (at best) by anyone other than my clients. Unfortunately, when my clients pass to the eternal human boneyard, Bo Bo’s

5 Reasons to Avoid Giving Small Gifts in Your Will

Posted on April 18, 2017

If you have immediate family members whom you love, it is assumed you will leave most of your estate to them. In this case, leaving a few hundred dollars to a distant niece or friend is rightly viewed as an unnecessary sign of respect and kindness. But beware: The amount of time, legal fees and other costs associated with giving a $1,000 bequest in your Will can cost as much as leaving a $50,000 to that beneficiary. In fact, leaving small gifts to people using your Will is a sure way to increase your legal fees in New York, oftentimes incurring more expenses to send the gift than the amount of the gift itself: Cost of Mailing Notice (Required):

5 Special Provisions You Should Add to Your Will

Posted on March 15, 2017

At some level, American Wills have not changed much in the last 200 years: Just like in old-timey England you need to (1) state who gets what, particularly anything left-over (your residuary estate), (2) who shall manage your estate’s affairs (your Executor), (3) you need to sign your Will or have someone do it for you in your presence with your permission if you don’t do so yourself, and (4) you need two disinterested witnesses who sign your Will in your presence as you state it is your Will. However, there are a few modern developments and government programs that justify adding the following provisions to even the most routine Wills: Contingent Ownership of a 529 Plan: If you

Disinheriting Someone? Don’t Use a “Pour-Over” Will

Posted on January 13, 2017

You have a right to leave money to who you want to and, when you have a will, can leave it to those you want: It is not uncommon to disinherit a family member who would otherwise receive an inheritance if no Will existed. However, your nearest family members (some of whom you may have disinherited) are required to receive a copy of the Will when you die. Clearly you do not want these disinherited people giving your choice of beneficiaries a hard time. Many people rightly resort to disinheriting an heir by bequeathing money using a Trust which has no requirement of placing such family members on legal notice. However, there is one regularly-used shortcut that can defeat your

Trusts: How to Protect a (Troubled) Child from Your Money

Posted on December 3, 2016

Parents: You are responsible for the financial education and well-being of your child. You have more life experience, you are the ones who brought your children into the world, and you are the one leaving your money to them. So take the extra step and make sure you give your children money in a responsible way. We’ve all heard of it: The child who spent all of his inheritance before he received it, the gambler, the substance abuser, spendthrift, and so on. In 2011, I had a 29 year old female client, whom I shall call “Janice” who didn’t have one penny to her name: Janice was living in a homeless shelter, on all types of public assistance, and almost thoroughly ignored

Leaving the Right Gift to the Right Person

Posted on September 30, 2016

I meet several clients who, upon death, want to automatically give their daughters their jewelry and split their remaining property equally between their children. This is also the default position suggested by general practitioner attorneys who will draft a two page Will for their lifetime client, and avoid the consultation time needed to truly understand their client’s desires. My experience suggests that serious consideration must be given to distributing the correct amount of property, and the right type of property, to each beneficiary. Most people leave property first to their spouse, then to their children equally – they have equated equally loving their children with bequeathing them equal amounts of property. It goes without saying that even in “healthy” families this may not be

Should I Serve as an Executor?

Posted on August 16, 2016

Most client I meet with name their most trusted family member or friend to serve as Executor of their Will when they pass away. Upon their death that person usually does serve; I would say approximately 90% of proposed Executors do serve in this position (if they themselves are still alive). These people think it will be “fun”, or that they “deserve to be in control” of the Probate. And then the wheels fall off: The Executor finds out that the decedent was a hoarder and has to clean out dumpsters of worthless garbage; beneficiaries fight, are impatient and ungrateful; collecting assets is hampered because they weren’t in easy-to-find places; the Executor lives in Los Angeles, but the decedent’s estate is being Probated

“No Contest” Clauses in Wills

Posted on August 6, 2016

No family is perfect. Sometimes a child is mean or indifferent to parents’ needs as they age, while the others go out of their way to help. Though parents / aunts & uncles / grandparents may say they love all of their potential beneficiaries equally, the truth may be different. And (of course) there may be an obvious disincentive to leave the troubled beneficiary equal (if any) proceeds upon passing away. These clients tend to leave a lesser sum of money to the beneficiary in their Will, not realizing that the beneficiary may attack the Will, and line the pockets of a few attorneys and diminish the estate in the process. There has been a good deal of discussion recently surrounding