Avoiding probate is often an important goal for many estate planning clients. Probate is the court-supervised process of administering a deceased person’s estate and transferring their property at death pursuant to the terms...more
New York’s Transfer-on-Death Deed Law is set to take effect on July 19, 2024. The new law allows New York residents to designate a beneficiary to automatically inherit their real property upon their death, similar to...more
A new Minnesota law comes into effect on August 1, 2024, which flags the importance of addressing insurance coverage within your estate plan, especially if your plan utilizes transfer on death deeds. A transfer on death deed...more
Because so many things can change with time, we recommend that our clients review their estate plans every three to five years and update plans as needed. These periodic reviews help to ensure that your affairs are in order,...more
Traditionally, real estate must pass through a deed signed by all grantees of the last vesting deed, or if one of the grantees has passed away, then a probate proceeding allows a court to transfer title for the deceased...more
What is the Probate Process in New York? Probate is the formal legal process that gives recognition to a will and appoints the executor or personal representative who will administer the estate and distribute the...more
Transfer on Death (“TOD”), also known as Payable on Death (“POD”), account registrations are a popular way to avoid the requirement to pass assets through probate upon death and operate as an alternative to retitling assets...more
Estate planning is important for everyone but is especially vital for the future success of small businesses. Proactively planning for the death or retirement of business owners removes uncertainty surrounding ownership...more
Although transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) designations on financial accounts can be an effective tool to avoid the probate process, these account designations have the potential to derail a customer’s estate...more
When used in consultation with an estate planning attorney, transfer-on-death (TOD) or payable-on-death (POD) designations on financial accounts can be valuable estate planning tools. However, these account designations have...more
After a party completes their divorce, there are often many things that they need to do to finalize matters. However, one item that many overlook is changing their beneficiary designations after divorce to remove their...more
Financial institutions and brokerage firms occasionally recommend that client accounts be structured as joint or beneficiary-designated accounts without full consideration of the impact on the client’s estate plan....more
The thrifty do-it-yourselfers among us might jump at the opportunity to transfer their family home to their kids while avoiding probate and the expense of creating a trust. Revocable Transfer on Death Deeds, or RTODDs, have...more
More and more, people are being advised to add “transfer on death” designations to their non-IRA brokerage assets. This increasingly popular tool has both benefits as well as detractions and is best used only in certain...more
Cryptocurrency owners must face death—be it their own, or that of anyone else with custody of the owner’s cryptocurrency or other digital assets. We received a stark reminder of this when the Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX...more
There are special estate tax planning considerations when a non-U.S. citizen spouse is part of the picture. To be clear, a non-U.S. citizen spouse may be living in the U.S. and even hold a green card, but he or she does not...more
Often the most difficult asset for which to plan in an estate plan is non-commercial real property such as a family farm, a hunting cabin or other recreational property. This is especially true when the property makes up a...more
As of January 1, 2016, California allows the use of a “transfer on death” deed for real property. A TOD deed essentially allows a person to execute and record a revocable deed, which grants real property to a beneficiary...more
As of January 1, 2016, California law allows the use of transfer on death (TOD) deeds for real property. A TOD deed is a revocable beneficiary deed, involving the transfer of an individual’s residence (limited to multi-unit...more