Wills

Your will can ensure that your assets are received by your closest relatives and friends in the manner that you intended. Your will can also control when those assets are received. Your will can designate an executor to manage your estate and may also reduce the costs of administering your estate.

If you die without a will (intestate), the laws of the state where you reside will determine who receives your property and who administers your estate. Consequently, your assets may not be available to be used by those who need them most. For example, if a husband dies in New York without a will and is survived by his wife and two minor children, his wife would receive $50,000.00 and one-half of his assets, his children would each receive one-fourth of his assets.

In preparing your will, you should also consider whether all of your assets (including retirement accounts and life insurance policies) will be divided appropriately.

Requirements for Execution of a will
A will must be signed at the end and witnessed by at least two people who are aware of the fact that the document they are signing is a will. Special circumstances arise when the testator (the person executing the will) is disabled, e.g. blind, deaf, illiterate or of diminished mental capacity. These circumstances give rise to various technical requirements for proper execution. Although a presumption of proper execution arises if it is supervised by an attorney, this presumption may be overcome in certain circumstances.

 The testator must be competent at the time the will is executed. He or she must be generally familiar with the nature and extent of his or her assets and the members of his/her family. Incompetence can be proven by expert testimony and the results of tests administered to the testator at or about the time the will was executed.

Undue influence is often apparent when the will being offered for probate contains radical changes from the decedent's prior estate plan. There is seldom direct evidence of undue influence. The probate courts have recognized the fact that undue influence is often subtle and insidious. A  person may take advantage of the fact that the testator is dependent upon him/her to provide shelter, assistance with financial transactions and companionship. If that relationship can be classified as a "confidential relationship" there may be an inference of undue influence. One such example is when an attorney drafts a will which includes a bequest to him/her. Based upon the New York Court of Appeals decision in Matter of Putnam, an inference of undue influence arises requiring the attorney to explain the reason for the bequest. Gifts to accountants, clergy and others in a confidential relationship give rise to a similar inference of undue influence.

A will may be challenged when a false statement influences the testator to execute a will with provisions clearly attributed to the false statement made to him or her.

Donald Novick and his team have 30 years of experience assisting clients in the preparation of wills thereby ensuring that his/her wishes will be honored upon death.  To speak to one of our highly qualified attorneys about the preparation of a will, please Contact Long Island Estate Litigation Law Firm - Novick & Associates at:
1 (877) N O V I C K 1 (668-4251) or click here for an immediate e-mail inquiry.