Apparent authority is a difficult area as far as legal proof is concerned. One usually has to show that the wrongful actions of the individual who claimed the authority of a partner were accomplished with either the actual knowledge of the real partners or that the real partners were so careless... View More

You may not need a lawyer but the persons who owe the money and are paying it off may need one more and require a lot of legal protection. You have to give them a written "mortgage satisfaction" which is a notarized legal document that states that the mortgage and mortgage indebtedness... View More

This is a very difficult question--in New York State and in most other jurisdictions it is almost impossible to set aside an arbitrator's decision through a subsequent court challenge unless there was fraud or some other grave shortcoming in the process. There is a very short time clock as to... View More

You have the right during your lifetime to transfer a residence which you legally own into a trust and that strategy can avoid the need to probate a will in order to transfer the house after your death. There are two types of trust, first revocable, often called a revocable living trust, and second... View More

This is a common question in gifts and there are almost as many answers as there are facets--because there are a lot of different taxes. First, if there were back real estate taxes owed on the house--State, County, Town, City, Village, School, etc., those taxes always have to be paid or the local... View More

In most states including New York there is no "Code Requirement" or legal regulation which requires that playground rubber safety surfaces be repaired or replaced on any particular schedule. These systems, often described as head injury fall attenuation systems, are to be kept in a good... View More

New York State law as well as the law of most other states (I am licensed to practice law in NY and NJ) permits and allows real estate ownership in a trust. Many individuals, including married couples, transfer the ownership of real property into a trust while continuing to reside in the residence... View More

The laws concerning trusts are very similar in New Jersey and New York—the primary reason is that both states derive their laws from the common law of England. In all cases, a trust should be in writing and one has to be careful to also use written deeds or documents to transfer the assets—real... View More

In New York, for a will to be accepted as valid or proven ("probated")by the Surrogates Court,there have to be at least two witnesses who are not beneficiaries. Some attorneys use 3 witnesses just to be sure. It is always best practice--I would say essential--to have an attorney prepare... View More

Normally if you retained a life estate to yourself when you transferred a condominium or other reals estate by deed or into a trust, you own that property for as long as you are alive--this is the meaning of a life estate. For most of us, owning a property as a life estate for the rest of our life... View More

A statutory major gifts rider is a an attachment consisting of about 5 pages that is placed behind the basic New York State power of attorney. The purpose of this major gifts rider is to allow the person(s)who you appoint as your agent to act under your power to make major gifts usually to other... View More

As a general rule, there are three basic documents which everyone should have in place as part of his or her estate plan or elder law plan--first, a will; second,a power of attorney; and third, an advanced health care proxy, sometimes called a iving will or advanced directive. One has to be very... View More

Life estates, and life rights to occupy a residence or property or to receive a lifetime stream of income, are important legal devices, usually established in a deed or by a trust, which are often used for long term care or nursing home planning by attorneys who work in the fields of elder law... View More

The individual who establishes a living trust in some instances can act as his own trustee especially if it is a revocable living trust trust or revocable inter-vivos (Latin for "living" or "between living persons trust").In other instances, it is much better and sometimes... View More

There are two types of power of attorney –first, a “general” or “live” power of attorney which can be used by the agent (the person who is authorized to act and sign documents, etc.) at any time and without restrictions as soon as it is signed and delivered and a “springing” power of... View More

There are multiple categories of trust and without more detail it is difficult to determine what you mean by an "estate trust". in general, trusts break down into "inter-vivos trusts", often called "living trusts" which are established by a person while he or she is... View More

A will contest, sometimes known as objections to probate, can be filed in New York State Surrogate’s Court (or in the Probate Courts of other states) by a relative who is receiving less of a share under the will of a person who has died than he or she would have received if the person who died... View More

In the first instance, try to get some information from the person who told you that there was an irrevocable trust and that you were named as a beneficiary under that trust; try to see if you can obtain the name of any lawyer who may have prepared the documents. If the trust was prepared, were... View More

This is a very complex and difficult question--much more difficult than a non-lawyer might expect. All big corporations, and many mid-size corporations, use multiple corporate entities and often also use limited liability companies to do business. As a result, the business entities often are... View More

This is a question that may need more information for it to be properly and fully answered. In the first instance,you have to determine if your spouse, who has now passed away, owned 100% of the business or less than 100%. If he owned less than 100%, who owned the other shares--did you or someone... View More