Surrogate Holzman of Bronx County recently addressed the issue of whether New York’s witness beneficiary rule would serve to invalidate bequests to a witness and only beneficiary of a will that had been executed outside of this jurisdiciton. Jaclene D’Agostino discusses the decision in our most recent entry.
Continue Reading Witness Beneficiary Rule Applicable to Instrument Executed Outside of New York?

This week’s entry discusses a recent decision from the Southern District of New York in which the plaintiff asserted he was the son of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, and sought to compel distributions from the late president’s testamentary trust. Especially relevant to the trusts and estates litigator is the discussion of the probate exception to federal diversity jurisdiction.
Continue Reading Ask not what your Trustees can do for you…