Administering the estate of a decedent who dies intestate is sometimes more complicated than one of a decedent who dies leaving a will. The distributees of an intestate decedent are often unknown, leading to citation by publication and a kinship hearing with respect to anyone who appears alleging to be an heir. Frank Santoro discusses these situations in our most recent entry.
Continue Reading Who are the Distributees?
Surrogate McCarty of Nassau County recently addressed a case in which the parents of a deceased minor each sought letters of administration, alleging that the other was ineligible. Frank Santoro discusses the decision, as well as general rules of eligibility to serve as a fiduciary, in our most recent entry.
Continue Reading Who May Serve as Fiduciary?
New York’s “slayer rule” generally prohibits an individual from benefiting from his own wrongdoing. However, due to the unusual facts of a case that is developing in Suffolk County, a murderer may indirectly inherit his victim’s estate through intestacy. Robert Harper discusses the situation in this week’s entry.
Continue Reading The Slayer Rule
At the time of her death in 1974, it was believed that Ellen Naomi Cohen a/k/a “Mama Cass” of the 1960’s rock-folk group The Mama’s & The Papa’s died intestate. But recent revelations indicate that she may in fact have had a will. Eric Penzer discusses these recent findings in our latest entry.
Continue Reading Mama Cass’s Estate – California Dreamin’ or a Nightmare?