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ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
ESTATE LITIGATION
ESTATE PLANNING
ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
The legal services required in processing a person's
affairs after death is the area of law known as estate administration.
Estate administration is one of the core practice areas of the Law
Offices of Mitchell Wilensky. The firm's familiarity with the day-to-day
operations of the Courts and the taxing authorities allows it, in most
cases, to expedite and simplify the estate administration process.
Generally, the estate administration process can be divided into the
following stages:
- Initial Court Proceeding: probating the Will in the Surrogate's
Court, or if the person died without a Will (intestacy), filing an "administration" proceeding
in the Surrogate's Court.
- Nuts and Bolts Estate Administration: collection,
inventory and valuation of assets; sale of decedent's real estate
and other assets;
record keeping and computerization,
raising cash requirements, payment of expenses, debts and legacies,
filing
of income tax returns, including fiduciary income tax returns,
filing of Surrogate's Court inventory.
- Estate Tax Returns: preparation and filing of the Federal estate
tax return; preparation and filing of the New York estate tax return;
post-mortem estate planning, including disclaimers, renunciations;
selection of a tax year for the estate; timing of distributions;
QTIP elections, alternate valuations, excess deductions on termination;
the generation skipping tax; preparing and handling of audits.
- Accounting & Settlement: preparation of fiduciary's accounting
- judicial versus non-judicial accountings; final distributions
of estate assets and payment of commissions; finalizing all aspects
of
the estate.
ESTATE LITIGATION
Since 1977, the Law Offices of Mitchell Wilensky
has successfully represented litigants in contested estates. The firm
has been involved in leading cases, including a landmark case
in the New York County Surrogate's Court regarding the right to a jury
trial in a proceeding to invalidate a lifetime trust, as well as a
litigated administration case in an estate of a victim of the September
11th terrorist attacks. (See the "Reported
Cases" section of this website.)
Typical estate litigation handled by the firm in Surrogate's Court
includes:
- Contested Probate Proceedings: Defending a Will from a contest,
or in the alternative, protecting the rights of disinherited heirs.
- Surviving Spouse Litigation: Exercising a surviving spouse's rights
in an estate (right of election and right to spousal exempt property),
or in the alternative, disqualifying or limiting the surviving
spouse's inheritance rights.
- Accountings: Judicial settlement of Executor and Trustee Accounts,
or in the alternative, filing objections to a Fiduciary's account
to protect the rights of beneficiaries or creditors.
- Wrongful Death: Prosecution and judicial approval of wrongful
death recoveries in automobile, aviation or boating accidents, medical
malpractice.
- Kinship: Judicial determinations of the heirs of a decedent in
proceedings where there is no Will.
- Contested Administration Proceedings: Disputes regarding the appointment
of the fiduciary when there is no will.
- Miscellaneous:
- Will construction proceedings
- Discovery proceedings
- Enforcing or disputing claims against an estate
- Invalidating trusts
ESTATE PLANNING
During the twenty-six years of his law practice,
Mitchell Wilensky has assisted countless individuals and their families
in achieving their estate planning goals. Tax considerations in estate
planning are important, of course, but a wise estate plan involves
much more. The Law Offices of Mitchell Wilensky can provide its clients
with the following estate planning tools:
- Wills: Simple or complex
- Trusts: Lifetime trusts, testamentary trusts
- Powers of Attorney
- Living Wills and Health Care Proxies
By planning ahead now, you can
retain more of your assets, protect your estate and leave a lasting
legacy for your family.
Mitchell Wilensky - New York Estate Attorney:
The estate, probate and trust law attorney, estate administration &
settlement lawyer, estate litigation, contested estates & trusts
law office, estate planning lawyer, estate tax attorney, administering
estates and trusts, probating wills attorney, estate tax returns, estate
& trust accountings, executors & trustees, elder law or other
legal information presented at this site should not be construed to
be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer or attorney client
relationship. Any results set forth here were dependent on the facts
of that case and the results will differ from case to case. Please contact
our estate law office - Bayport, NY.
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