Outline

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529 Plan
- Secure 2.0 allows money in a 529 plan to be converted into a Roth IRA tax-free, but there are limits.
  - Jessica Dickler, A 'significant objection' to 529 college] savings plans will go away Jan. 1. 'This is a big deal,' expert says, CNBC, Dec. 28, 2023 (Apple News link): "A provision in Secure 2.0 allows money saved in a 529 college savings plan to be converted into a Roth individual retirement account tax-free after 15 years. // Up until now, the funds had to be used for qualified education expenses. Starting Jan. 1, the savings can also be put toward retirement."
Accounting
- 🔑 Accounting for Interest Income in a Rental LLC (Apple Numbers)
Administrator C.T.A.
- Definitions
- 🖇️ NY Administrator C.T.A.
Appraisals
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- "This is the biggest shift in our world since the invention of electricity, and you’re either going to work for an AI or an AI is going to work for you. Only one of these is a good option." Seth Godin, The talking dog, Seth Godin's Blog, July 17, 2025.
- AI Regulation and Policy in the U.S.
  - Different definitions of AI across jurisdictions
  - Federal
    - 2022-10-04 Biden administration releases Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights
      - Puts forward five core principles:
        
        Safe and Effective Systems
        
        Algorithmic Discrimination Protections
        
        Data Privacy
        
        Notice and Explanation
        
        Human Alternatives, Consideration, and Fallback
      - Resources
        
        Associated Press, White House unveils ‘AI Bill of Rights’ to protect digital, civil liberties, MarketWatch, Oct. 4, 2022 (Apple News link) ("The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights notably does not set out specific enforcement actions, but instead is intended as a White House call to action for the U.S. government to safeguard digital and civil rights in an AI-fueled world, officials said. . . . Still, because many AI-powered tools are developed, adopted or funded at the state and local level, the federal government has limited oversight regarding their use. ").
    - 2023-07 Voluntary commitments were made by Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI to "help move toward safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology," including internal/external security testing of AI systems before release, sharing information on managing AI risks and investing in safeguards.
    - 2023-09 Adobe, IBM, Palantir, Nvidia, and Salesforce joined the volunary commitment.
    - 2023-10-30 Biden issued an executive order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.
  - Resources
    - Hope Anderson, AI Governance in the US: Key Regulations, Policies, and Global Insights, Lawline, Jan. 14, 2025.
- AI’s Role in Financial Advisory
  - AI is transforming the financial advisory industry by providing tools for lead generation, financial planning, client service, and administrative tasks.
  - Benefits of AI for Advisors: AI allows advisors to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and focus on client relationships.
  - Importance of Data Privacy: Ensuring data privacy and compliance remains crucial as AI tools become more prevalent.
  - Resources
    - Satayan Mahajan, Your New AI Assistant (No, It Won't Steal Your Job), WealthManagement, Oct. 3, 2024: AI is transforming the financial advisory industry, providing tools for lead generation, financial planning, client service, and administrative tasks. By leveraging machine learning and generative AI, advisors can streamline operations, improve e neefficiency, and focus on client relationships. However, ensuring data privacy and compliance remains crucial as AI tools become more prevalent.
- AI and Lawyers
  - Advertising
    - Chatbots
  - Bar Associations Provide Guidance
    - American Bar Association 512 (released 7/29/2024)
    - Florida Bar Guide to Getting Started with AI
      - "It provides a user-friendly, broad overview of AI and generative AI and includes definitions, explanations of the technologies, an analysis of ethical issues, implementation advice, practical resources, and much more." Nicole Black, Florida Bar releases handy generative AI guide for lawyers | Legal Loop, Daily Record, Jan. 17, 2025.
  - Communicating with clients
  - Competence of lawyers
  - Confidentiality
  - ➡️ Decoding Handwritten Legal Decisions with ChatGPT: A Case Study
  - Disclosure to courts
    - Robert M. Harper, Does Counsel Have a Duty to Disclose to a Surrogate’s Court the Fact That Hearing Evidence That Counsel Proffers Has Been Generated by Artificial Intelligence?, Farrel Fritz, Jan. 30, 2025 (discussing Matter of Weber).
  - Hallucinations
    - Lawyers must check every rule and case citation that AI gives because hallucinations by AI are well-documented.
    - Fake cases
      - United Kingdom: Neil Rose, Court issues stark warning to lawyers over AI-generated fake cases, Legal Futures, June 6, 2025.
    - ChatGPT 5 still gets things wrong. "sometimes, it not only gets it wrong, but it lies and gaslights," writes Dave Winer (daveverse 8/7/2025).
  - ➡️ How AI Gives Me Confidence to Contribute to Professional Discussions
  - Legal Fees
- Taxing AI
  - Orly Mazur & Adam Thimmesch, Transforming Tax Communications With Large Language Models, 185 Tax Notes Fed. 757 (Oct. 28, 2024).
  - Sloan Speck, Weekly SSRN Tax Article Review and Roundup: Speck Reviews Taxing Electronic Agency by Elkins & Eyal, TaxProf Blog (June 20, 2025): David Elkins and Mirit Eyal explore the taxation of advanced AI systems in their article "Taxing Electronic Agency," proposing that opaque AI systems should be treated analogously to trusts under U.S. federal income tax law. They argue that trust taxation, developed to address similar issues of opacity, provides a workable framework for taxing AI systems that control economic value without immediate human appropriation, such as managing blockchain portfolios. While they caution against designing a bespoke taxing regime, they recommend expanding existing rules, like the PFIC framework, to include "electronic business trusts." Their approach emphasizes leveraging historical tax structures to reduce administrative costs and ensure fairness, while acknowledging the need for potential structural reforms in the future. This analysis contributes significantly to debates on AI taxation and broader discussions on capital income taxation.
- Types of Artificial Intellgience
  - Augmented Reality
  - Biometrics
  - Generative AI
Bank Accounts
- 🖇️ Joint Bank Accounts
Beneficiaries of a Trust
- Removal of Beneficiary
  - By Grantor
  - By Trust Protector
Bluebook
- Online: https://www.legalbluebook.com/
- Bluepages are for citing authority in "non-academic legal documents," such as court documents and court memoranda. (Bluepages in the 21st Edition and 22nd Edition.)
- Whitepages " are intended for use in law review footnotes." Quick Style Guide.
Case Unsealing
- ➡️ New York County Supreme Court Grants Unsealing of Matrimonial Case File for Deceased Father’s Daughter
Celebrities: Ozzy Osbourne
- How Ozzy Osbourne’s Family is Set to Be Ripped Apart By $230Million Inheritance Battle, Wealth Advisor, July 29, 2025: Ozzy Osbourne’s $230 million estate, including royalties and intellectual property, is expected to spark a lengthy inheritance battle among his wife Sharon and six children. The complexity of the estate, spanning continents and decades of royalties, could lead to disputes, especially regarding future revenue from his vast catalog.
Charitable Planning
- 🔗 Community Foundations
- Donor Advised Fund (DAF)
  - Definition of 🔤 Donor Advised Fund (DAF)
Charitable Income Tax Deduction
- Christopher R. Hoyt, Your Charitable Income Tax Breaks Are Changing in 2025 and 2026, ACTEC Trust and Estate Talk, Nov. 2025.
Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT)
- Joseph Liberman, Nathan Sosner & Jonathan Maron, Combining Charitable Remainder Unitrusts and Tax-Aware Strategies to Diversify Low-Basis Stock, May 18, 20205 (SSRN link).
Chevron Doctrine
- Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overruled Chevron v. NRDC.
  - Ellen P. Aprill, Unpacking the Most Important Paragraph in Loper Bright, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Legal Studies Research Paper No.2025-02, Jan. 16, 2205 (SSRN Link).
Collectibles
- "The market for collectibles is expanding, with ultra-high-net-worth individuals allocating about 25% of their portfolios to art, according to a 2024 survey by Art Basel and UBS. Additionally, over one-third of family offices now include collectibles in their investment strategies, as noted in Goldman Sachs’ Family Office Report." Claire Ceremuga, Family Wealth Report: Collectibles as Investments: Rewards, Risks, and Practical Insights from Experts (Nov. 18, 2024), Wealth Strategies Journal, Nov. 18, 2024.
- Authentication
- Valuation
- Soaring Prices, Big Risks Characterizing Collectibles: Investment Summit, Family Wealth Report, Nov. 18, 2024. • Summarized by Claire Ceremuga in Wealth Strategies Journal, here.
Community Foundations 🔗
- A union of many charitable gifts.
- Manages endowments and disbruses payouts.
- Steward of individual funds.
- Classified as 501(c)(3) public charities.
- Focused on a geographic area.
- More than 800 nationwide.
- Grant-making supports nonprofit organizations.
Contract Not to Revoke a Will
- Joint Will
- Mutual Wills
- "A joint will is relatively uncommon; well-counseled testators do not use them. . . . [J]oint wills are notorious litigation-breeders that should not be used at all." Jesse Dukeminier et al., Wills, Trusts, and Estates (7th ed. 2005).
Contract to Make a Will
- Generally, see 🖇️ Contracts Relating to Wills.
- Contexts: A promise to make a will can be made in return for . . .
  - an agreement not to contest a will
  - an agreement to marry
  - services to be rendered (such as serving as nurse and housekeeper)
- Statutes of Frauds required?
  - To ease the burden of proof, some states require the contract to comply with the Statute of Frauds, meaning they must be in writing to be enforceable.
- Context: Servies to Be Rendered
  - In states that require compliance with the Statute of Frauds, quantum meruit (i.e., restitution) might be available for the services rendered to the decedent.
Contracts Relating to Wills 🔗
- Two Types of Contracts Relating to Wills
  - 🖇️ Contract to Make a Will
  - 🖇️ Contract Not to Revoke a Will
- Contract Law Applies
  - Contract law applies, not the law of wills.
  - The contract beneficiary must sue under contract law, proving the a valid contract.
- Upon Testator's Death
  - The will is probated.
  - If the will breaches the contract, then the beneficiary is entitled to remedies.
- Remedies for Breach
  - Courts are not uniform in their characterization of the remedies that apply.
    - Contructive Trust
    - Damages
    - Specific Performance
  - Two possible results, either . . .
    - (1) The contract beneficiary is awarded the value of the property that was intended for that beneficiary under the contractual will.
    - (2) An order compelling the decedent's successors to transfer the subject property to the contract beneficiary.
Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)
- Generally
  - Purpose: Aimed at combating illicit activities by improving corporate transparency
  - Statute: 31 U.S.C. 5336
  - Regulations: 31 C.F.R. 1010.380
  - Open Issue: Is the CTA enforceable? There "is a tug of war amongst the government seeking transparency, on the one hand, and concerned citizens and private interest groups seeking privacy, on the other, and no definitive answer . . . ." 🖇️ McCormack & Stern.
- Timeline
  - 2021: The CTA was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.
  - 2024-01-01: The CTA went into effect.
  - 2024-05: Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland was filed.
  - 2024-12-03: In Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction forbidding the government from taking steps to enforce the CTA.
  - 2024-12-23: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the injunction in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, reinstating the CTA.
  - 2024-12-26: Another panel of judges on the 5th Circuit reinstated the injunction in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland.
  - 2025-01-09: "Attorneys general from 25 Republican-led states on Thursday urged the US Supreme Court to keep in place a nationwide pause on enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act, arguing that allowing the law to go into effect would harm their local economies." Tristan Navera, Corporate Transparency Act Lashed by State Attorneys General (1), Bloomberg Law, Jan. 1, 2025.
  - 2025-01-07: Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide ban in Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury.
  - 2025-01-16: A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to repeal the CTA.
  - 2025-01-23: The Supreme Court stayed a nationwide injunction against the CTA in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, but a separate injunction remains in effect due to Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, leaving CTA reporting requirements optional for now.
    - Kelly Phillips Erb, Supreme Court Puts Business Ownership Reporting Block on Hold. But Don't Rush To File--Yet, Forbes, Jan. 23, 2025 (Apple News Link).
    - Alexandra C. McCormack & Russell H. Stern, Corporate Transparency Act Receives Support From SCOTUS, but It’s Not Enough To Lift Nationwide Injunction, NYSBA, Jan. 29, 2025.
    - National Coin and Bullion Association, Corporate Transparency Act Enforcement Remains Paused Amid Ongoing Legal Challenges, Greysheet, Jan. 30, 2025 ("Many in the numismatic community, particularly coin dealers and related businesses, may fall under the CTA’s definition of 'reporting companies' and may submit beneficial ownership reports to FinCEN voluntarily while the injunction is in effect, though they will not face penalties for not doing so.").
CT In Terrorem Clause
- Charles E. Rounds, Jr, A trust’s in terrorem clause is unenforceable as a matter of public policy to the extent that it would subvert fiduciary accountability, JD Supra, Feb. 8, 2024 (discussing Salce v. Cardello, 301 A.3d 1031 (Conn. 2023)).
CT Intestate Administration
- Inventory
  - Connecticut General Statutes § 45a-341 — Inventory to Be Filed; Property Included; Appraisal; Time Limits; Sale of Personal Property; Hearing
  - Connecticut Inventory of Real Property in Estate Proceedings: What Must Be Listed (Statute + PC-2407)
CT Probate
- Inventory
  - Connecticut General Statutes § 45a-341 — Inventory to Be Filed; Property Included; Appraisal; Time Limits; Sale of Personal Property; Hearing
  - Connecticut Inventory of Real Property in Estate Proceedings: What Must Be Listed (Statute + PC-2407)
Cybersecurity
- Challenges
  - False sense of security (complacency)
  - Identity theft
- Insurance coverage
  - Cyber-liability policies
  - Malpractice insurance typically does not cover
  - Michael C. Maschke, Sharon D. Nelson & John W. Simek, Cyber Insurance Premiums Are Soaring — And So Are Your Risks, Above the Law, Aug. 5, 2025 ("underwriting cyber risk is notoriously difficult. There aren’t decades of claims data to lean on, and threat actors innovate faster than most corporate defenses. Expect carriers to continue tightening their underwriting requirements . . .").
- Tips
  - Create policies
    - Example: wire-transfer policy
      - Call to confirm information on wire-transfer fax, rather than relying on information in the fax
  - Don't disable firewalls
  - Inspect email addresses
  - Training: Learn about different cyber crime methods that criminals use
    - Knowbe4
    - Sans.org (has a newsletter called Ouch)
  - Use a VPN to make it appear as if you phone is in a different location
  - Use multi-factor authentication because it is more secure than passwords
  - Visit only reputable sites
- Types of cyber crime techniques
  - Breaches
  - Cryptojacking (unauthorized use of a network to mine)
  - Deepfakes
  - Juice jacking (involves a charging kiosk)
  - Malware
  - Phishing
    - Types of phishing
      - Emails: fake emails
        
        Image-based phishing email (no software can identify the content as malicious)
        
        Spear phishing is a highly targeted form of phishing attack that focuses on specific individuals or organizations. Unlike generic phishing, which casts a wide net, spear phishing involves attackers conducting thorough research on their targets to craft personalized and convincing messages. These messages often appear to come from trusted sources, such as colleagues, supervisors, or reputable organizations, and are designed to deceive recipients into revealing sensitive information, downloading malware, or performing unauthorized actions.
      - QR codes
        
        KnowBe4 Team, FBI Report: Attackers Are Sending Physical Packages with Malicious QR Codes, Security Awareness Training Blog, Aug. 7, 2025.
      - Text messages (SMishing)
      - Voice (viscing)
      - Websites
    - Gen AI is increasing phishing
      - Peter Vogel, Cybersecurity risks increasing because of GenAI Tools!, Internet, IT + E-Discovery, Aug. 7, 2025.
  - Ransomware
  - Spoof number (a number that looks like it is coming from a reputable source)
  - Trojan
  - USB attacks
- Resources
  - Mark Bassingthwaighte, 10 Sloppy Tech Habits Your Firm Needs to Break, Lawline, May 24, 2024.
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
- Michael Gilfix & Bernard A. Krooks, Throw Mama From the Train: The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 Abandons Our Nation's Elders, NYSBA Trusts and Estates Law Section Newsletter, Vol. 39 No. 3, Fall 2006.
Devise
- Definitions
- Types of devises
  - 🖇️ Specific Devise
  - 🖇️ Residuary Devise
Digital Assets
- Cryptocurrency
  - Safekeeping private keys
    - In the decentralized world of digital assets, the loss of private keys equates to the irrevocable loss of the associated funds, emphasizing the necessity for meticulous and secure storage of such critical information.
    - Juliette Dubois, After 12 Years of Failed Attempts, the Man Who Lost His Hard Drive Containing $742M in Bitcoin Finally Ends His Search, Daily Galaxy, June 4, 2025: James Howells, an IT worker from Newport, South Wales, lost 8,000 Bitcoins worth $742 million when he discarded a hard drive containing the private keys in 2013. After over a decade of attempts, including proposing high-tech recovery plans and legal battles, a British judge ruled against him in 2024, citing the environmental risks and the drive’s likely deterioration. A documentary, 'The Buried Bitcoin,' will chronicle his journey and is set to be released in late 2025.
Discovery
- eDiscovery
  - Access permissions
  - Emails
    - Email attachments
    - Metaspike’s Forensic Email Collector
  - How to collect cloud-linked files from Dropbox, iCloud, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and others.
  - Metadata preservation
  - Version control
Distributee
- Definition of 🔤 distributee.
Dynasty Trust (GST Exempt Trust)
- 🔑 Even Under Common-Law Rule Against Perpetuities, Trusts Can Last for Over a Century
Easements
- ➡️ Definition of easement
- Title: remains in property owner
- Use: permission is given to another to use the land
  - Can allow
    - access
    - passage
    - limited use
  - Examples:
    - for installing utilities
    - for crossing a yard
- Types of easements
  - appurtenant, benefiting a specific neighboring property and transferring with ownership
  - in gross, tied to an individual or entity
- Creation of an easement
  - express grant
  - implication
  - necessity
  - prescription
- Types of easeemnts
  - affirmative (allowing an action)
  - negative (restricting the owner's actions)
Economy
- 🖇️ Inflation
- ➡️ The S&P 500 Isn’t as Diversified as It Looks
- ➡️ What To Do When Markets Look Frothy
- 2008-09 financial crisis
Elder Law
- ➡️ The Advocate's Guide to the Medicaid Program: A Must-Have Resource
- ➡️ From “Senior” to “Older Adult” — and Why We Still Say “Elder Law”
- ➡️ What Is the Age-Friendly Health System Initiative (AFHS)?
- ➡️ Understanding the Older Americans Act (OAA)
- ➡️ The World Health Organization’s Eight Domains of Livability: A Guide to Age-Friendly Communities
Electronic Wills
- 🖇️ NY Electronic Wills
- States That Have Enacted Electronic Wills
- The Four Functions of Will Formalities
Estate Administration
- Fiduciaries manage estate complexities and bear the consequences of their decisions. See, e.g., ➡️ Driving the Estate: The Fiduciary’s Journey in Matter of Pugach.
- 🔑 NY: Courts Will Not Direct When a Fiduciary Must Sell an Asset
Estate Planning
- ➡️ "I Love You" Will Might Not Show Love to Surviving Spouse
- ➡️ When to Update Your Estate Plan
- 🖇️ Safekeeping Estate Planning Documents
Estate Planning for Clients with No Children
- Jay Zigmont, Tax Planning For Clients With No Children: What Advisors May Be Missing, Financial Advisor, April 13, 2026.
Estate Planning for LGBTQ Couples
- Resources
  - Max Elliott, How to Advocate for LGBTQ Families Using Tax and Estate Planning, Lawline CLE, June 25, 2020.
Estates in Land
- Present Interests
- Future Interests
  - Future interests can be created as legal estates in land or as equitable estates in trust.
  - Remainders
    - Vested: A remainder is considered vested if it is not subject to any condition precedent except for the natural expiration of a prior estate.
    - Contingent: It is contingent only if its enjoyment depends on a future event beyond the natural termination of the prior estate.
Ethics
- Ethical Duties of Estate Planners
  - Do estate planners owe duties to beneficiaries?
    - What is the scope of those duties?
    - How does this vary across jurisdictions?
  - Duty of confidentiality vs. transparency to heirs
    - Can estate planners disclose confidential information to beneficiaries?
    - What ethical boundaries exist when discussing client intentions with heirs?
  - Duty to suggest alternatives
    - Should estate planners propose alternative plans if the client’s wishes may lead to family disputes?
    - What are the limits of the planner’s role in guiding decisions?
  - Potential conflicts of interest
    - What should estate planners do when representing multiple family members with differing interests?
    - How should planners navigate loyalty to the client while considering potential claims by beneficiaries?
  - Moral obligations vs. legal duties
    - What happens when a client’s wishes are legally sound but ethically questionable?
    - Should estate planners ever refuse to execute morally controversial estate plans?
  - Duty to prevent future litigation
    - Should estate planners take steps to mitigate potential disputes after the client’s death?
    - Is there an obligation to foresee and address familial tensions during planning?
- Professional Responsibility and Ethical Guidelines
  - How do professional codes of conduct (ABA, state bars) define an estate planner's ethical boundaries?
  - What role does continuing legal education (CLE) play in shaping ethical estate planning practices?
  - Handling client incapacity or undue influence
    - What steps should estate planners take when they suspect a client is being unduly influenced?
    - How can planners ethically assess a client’s mental capacity to make decisions?
- Conflicts between Legal Obligations and Personal Ethics
  - How should estate planners manage situations where legal requirements conflict with personal moral beliefs?
  - What are the consequences of refusing to work on morally objectionable estate plans?
  - Can estate planners ethically withdraw from representation if they disagree with the client’s wishes?
- Transparency in Fee Arrangements
  - How can estate planners ensure their fee structures are ethical and transparent to clients?
  - What are the ethical obligations when discussing fees with clients and beneficiaries?
  - Are there best practices for avoiding fee disputes?
- Balancing Client Autonomy and Ethical Judgment
  - Should estate planners intervene when they believe a client is making a harmful decision?
  - How can planners ensure they respect client autonomy while maintaining ethical standards?
🗓️ Events 🔗
- 🗓️ 6/5/2025 2:30 - 4:00 PM EST: Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- "MEET THE SURROGATES: We are grateful to Westchester Surr. Brandon Sall for bringing together our distinguished panel: Surrogate Mosey (Erie County), Surrogate Smith (Onondaga County), Surrogate Johnson (Queens County), and Surrogate Sall (Westchester County)." Zoom link.
- 🗓️ 6/12/2025 12:00 PM EST ATPI Webinar: Mission at Risk? Tax Exemption and the New Scrutiny of Nonprofits: "This nonpartisan webinar will address the evolving regulatory environment for nonprofit organizations and the challenges they face in maintaining their exempt status amid changing administrative priorities. Experts will examine concerns about heightened scrutiny of organizational language, mission statements, and program activities, along with questions about endowment taxation and compliance requirements. Panelists will offer practical guidance for nonprofit leaders and advisors on navigating regulatory uncertainty while maintaining organizational integrity and mission focus. The discussion will place current developments in historical context and provide forward-looking strategies for nonprofit governance, compliance, and risk management in a complex regulatory environment."
- Events Archive
  - 5/29/2025 Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- "We welcome back Paula M. Jones, Esq., who will speak on International Estate Administration." Zoom link.
  - 5/15/2025 Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic.
  - 4/24/2025 Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic -- THIS IS OUR FIFTH (5TH!) ANNIVERSARY OF THINK TANK MEETINGS, FIRST STARTED ON APRIL 20, 2020.
  - 4/10/2025 Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- We welcome back Paula M. Jones, Esq., who will speak on International Estate Law.
  - 3/27/2025 Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- we will meet David Okorn, Executive Director of the New York Community Trust, and Audra Lewton, Esq., a T&E attorney and NYCT Director of Planned Giving, who will speak about the NYCT and philanthropic giving. Description:
    - "Talking to Your Clients about Charitable Planning: Opportunities and Solutions through Community Foundations
      "Charitable giving-whether during lifetime or through an estate-has many benefits. Of course, there can be income tax and estate tax advantages, and the good feeling of supporting important causes. Include a community foundation in the mix, and you can enhance the benefits of a variety of charitable giving strategies-and give your clients the opportunity to have an even greater impact than they may have imagined. We will discuss how community foundations work and both the tax-smart and heart-smart opportunities they offer for your clients. We'll share specific examples from The New York Community Trust's long history of partnering with attorneys to help craft tailored charitable plans and offer ideas about ways to initiate and advance these conversations with your clients."
  - 3/13/2025 2:30 - 4:00 PM EST: Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic. See Estate Planning Roundtable: Complex Trusts, Cross-Border Estates, and More.
  - 2/27/2025 2:30 - 4:00 PM EST: Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Christina Sammartino, Esq. and Leslie Sultan, Esq., Law Offices of Leslie Sultan, P. C. speak about Supplemental Needs Trusts.
  - 2/13/2025 2:30 - 4:00 PM EST: Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic.
  - 1/30/2025 Complimentary Heckerling Themes Webinar from InterActive Legal.
  - 1/23/2025 Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Fundamentals of SSI, SSDI, Medicaid and Medicare Eligibility.
  - 1/22/2025 🗓️ Protecting your ASSets: Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts Explained. Presented by Daniel Miller, Esq. for the New York State Academy of Professional Lawyers. 1 Professional Practice Credit.
  - 12/19/2024 Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic.
  - 11/21/2024 🗓️ Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and Trusts: "This program will explore many of the implications, issues and open questions about how trust ownership of entities may affect CTA filings." The speakers for this complimentary webinar are Jonathan G. Blattmachr Esq., Alan S. Gassman Esq., Chriseanna Mitchell, and Martin M. Shenkman Esq.
  - 11/21/2024 🗓️ Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic.
  - 11/14/2024: 🗓️ Republican Victory: How Estate Planners Can Stay Relevant and Keep Practice Momentum. The speakers for this complimentary webinar are Martin Shenkman, Esq., Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Esq. and Robert S. Keebler, CPA; and it is sponsored by Peak Trust Company and Interactive Legal Systems (ILS).
  - 11/7/2024 🗓️ Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- New York Transfer on Death Deeds.
  - 10/24/2024 🗓️ Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic.
  - 10/17/2024 🗓️ In-Person Event: Round Table on Nursing Home Problems & Solutions in Pittsford, NY
  - 10/10/2024 🗓️ Linda Maryanov's T&E Think Tank Zoom study session -- Open Mic. • A particularly interesting discussion arose around the treatment of clawed-back gifts in New York estate tax, leading to this post: ➡️ NY Estate Tax: Why Clawed-Back Gifts Don’t Get a Basis Step-Up
  - 9/23/2024 🗓️ Free Webinar for Caregivers: Planning for Long-Term Care Needs in New York
  - 9/19/2024 🗓️ Join the T&E Think Tank: Meet the Chiefs 2024
  - 9/19/2024 🗓️ CLE via Zoom on New York Probate and Transfer on Death Deeds
  - 9/17/2024 🗓️ Complimentary Webinar on Helping More People Navigate the Dementia Journey (InterActive Legal)
  - 9/5/2024 ➡️ Thursday Think Tank: Open Mic
  - 9/5/2024 ➡️ Webinar on the Loper Bright United States Supreme Court Decision
Federal Coprorate AMT
- 2022: Corporate AMT enacted as part of the Inﬂation Reduction Act.
- Mason Ethington, Jeffrey L. Hoopes & Jacob Thornock, The Corporate AMT Raises Little Revenue. Rescore and Repeal It, 187 Tax Notes Fed. 1431, May 21, 2025 ("[T]he corporate AMT falls short of its projected generated revenue by more than 90 percent. . . . We propose that the corporate AMT be rescored to reexamine its revenue potential and, if the evidence is consistent with what we found from these public disclosures, repealed.").
Federal Gift Tax
- Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Per Recipient
  - 2025: $19,000 per donee
  - There’s no gift tax annual exclusion for a gift of a future interest.
- To determine whether a gift reduces the lifetime exemption and/or is reportable, see the flowchart & discussion on Nerd's Eye View (10/9/2024).
Federal Income Tax
- Realization
  - Definition of 🔤 realization.
  - See Sloan G. Speck, The Realization Rule as a Legal Standard, 16 Colum. J. Tax. L. __ (forthcoming 2024) (SSRN link): The realization rule in tax law is a legal standard, not a rule. A constitutional realization requirement could erode tax law from the bottom up and increase complexity.
Federal Tax: Tips
- Rachel Pannett, Aaron Wiener & Vivian Ho, Trump’s bill ends tax on tips. Here’s how other countries tax them., Washington Post, July 2, 2025 (Apple News link).
Fiduciary Investments
- ➡️ The S&P 500 Isn’t as Diversified as It Looks
- ➡️ What To Do When Markets Look Frothy
- Balancing
  - Fiduciary investmenting requires balancing risk and reward and the interests of current and remainder beneficiaries.
  - Resources on balancing
    - Terry L. Turnipseed, Tools for Better Balancing the Interests of Income Beneficiaries and Remaindermen, Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal, 2003.
    - Managing Trusts: Better Decisions in An Uncertain World, Bernstein Investment Research and Management, June 2003.
    - Thomas J. Pauloski & Heather G. Tanguay, Balancing Act: Fiduciary Investment After the Storm, ABA Trust & Investments, Nov.-Dec. 2009.
FL Electronic Wills
- HB 409 authorizes electronic wills and the remote witnessing of such wills.
GA In Terrorem Clause
- Georgia Law on In Terrorem Clauses in Trusts
Genealogy
- NYPL Genealogy Databases
- GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication)
  - A widely used data exchange format created by many genealogy programs.
  - GEDCOM Specifications
  - The GEDCOM Standard Release 5.5
  - The GEDCOM Standard 7.0.0-rc1
  - GEDCOM Data Format
  - GEDCOM Form: The Lineage-Linked GEDCOM Form
- Family Tree Heritage
- Steve Little, Artificial Intelligence and Genealogy: Using ChatGPT to Write Stories from Family Trees, Create Trees from Stories, AI Genealogy Insights, March 17, 2023.
Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning
- 2025: 59th Annual Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (January 13 - January 17)
  - 2026 Tax Cut Sunset: Some tax cuts from the 2017 tax reform are scheduled to sunset in 2026. Preparation can include: (1) Using the exemptions for married couples, (2) gifting to take advantage of the higher exemption amount, and (3) leveraging trusts (such as QTIP and bypass trusts).
  - Business Succession Using Purpose Trusts: Exploration of using purpose trusts to preserve a founder's mission and values.
  - Corporate Transparency Act (CTA): Implications for trusts and trustees under the CTA.
  - Ethics and Diversity: The importance of cultural competence in estate planning and recent ethics cases.
  - International Planning: Addressing the application of non-U.S. trust law to U.S. beneficiaries and expatriation considerations.
  - Planning Strategies: Practical guidance on estate planning for married couples, retirement benefits, charitable giving, and business succession.
  - Recent Developments: Analysis of significant 2024 developments, encompassing judicial decisions and regulatory guidance.
  - Trust Modifications: Techniques such as decanting and non-judicial settlement agreements to modify testamentary documents.
  - Resources
    - Matthew F. Erskine, Key Insights From The 59th Heckerling Institute On Estate Planning: Navigating The Future In 2025 And Beyond, Forbes, Jan. 21, 2025 (Apple News Link).
Inflation
- ➡️ How Does Inflation Impact Your Money?
- See 🖇️ Trump on inflation in his second term as the 47th president of the United States.
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
- Added the corporate AMT.
- "With increased funding under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the IRS intends to spend billions of dollars on improving its technology and hire 87,000 new employees over the next 10 years. Taxpayers can expect more in-depth audits of high-net-worth individuals and their related returns where the taxpayer has a controlling interest and where “a significant compliance risk” is deemed to exist. It’s important to note that the IRS’s plans may face significant changes under the Trump administration, potentially reducing the scope and focus of these enforcement efforts." Charles J. Moll, III & Kevin Spencer, Key Takeaways | IRS & FTB: Ultra High-Net-Worth Targets, Taxes & Tips, McDermott Will & Emery, Oct. 29, 2024.
Intellectual Property
- ➡️ Core Categories of Intellectual Property in Estate Planning
- ➡️ Intellectual Property Is Not the Physical Object
- ➡️ Intellectual Property as Intangible Personal Property
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT)
- 🔑 The Backdoor Step-Up in Basis for Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts
Interest Income
- 🔑 Accounting for Interest Income in a Rental LLC (Apple Numbers)
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) - Selected Provisions
- IRC § 168
  - Yelyzaveta Zablotska, IRS Private Letter Ruling: IRS Grants Extension for Tax-Exempt Controlled Entity Election After Advisor Error (Jun. 27, 2025), Wealth Strategies Journal, July 16, 2025.
- Subpart E - Grantors and Others Treated as Substantial Owners
Investing
- ➡️ The S&P 500 Isn’t as Diversified as It Looks
- ➡️ What To Do When Markets Look Frothy
- At the end of 2025, Warren Buffet retired as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the age of 95. Steve Kopack, The 'billionaire next door' bows out, NBC News, Dec. 31, 2025 (Apple News link).
- Index funds
- About Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, irs.gov.
Joint Bank Accounts
- Reid K. Weisbord & Stewart E. Sterk, Joint Bank Accounts: Who Needs Them?, Rutgers Law School Research Paper Forthcoming, Cardozo Legal Studies Research Paper Forthcoming, Iowa Law Review (forthcoming 2025-26), Feb. 16, 2025 ([SSRN link](https://ssrn.com/abstract=5140081 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5140081)).
Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT)
- ➡️ Understanding the Joint Committee on Taxation Revenue Estimating Process
Kamala Harris
- ➡️ Keebler Highlights Harris Tax Proposals
Lawmatics
- Lawmatics website: https://www.lawmatics.com/pricing/
Legal Fictions
- Resources
  - Study Lon L. Fuller, Legal Fictions (1967).
Life Insurance
- 🔑 NY: Generally, a will cannot change the beneficiaries of a life insurance policy
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
- 🔑 Accounting for Interest Income in a Rental LLC (Apple Numbers)
Limited Power of Appointment
- 🖇️ Trust grantor can retain a limited power of appointment.
Litigation
- 🔑 Clear and Convincing Evidence: What the Standard Requires
MA In Terrorem Clause
- Mathilda S. McGee-Tubb & Mirele A. Sagan, Can a beneficiary serve as a witness in a will contest without losing their inheritance? The Massachusetts Appeals Court says yes., Mintz, Nov. 8, 2024.
MA Principal and Income Act (MPIA)
- Power to Adjust
  - The MPIA "permit[s] a trustee of trusts having an income beneficiary and remainder beneficiaries to adjust between principal and income after he pursued a total growth strategy that disproportionately increased trust principal relative to trust income." Matter of Kline, No. SJC-13579 (MA Supreme 2024)..
Married Couples
- ➡️ "I Love You" Will Might Not Show Love to Surviving Spouse
- Anthony C. Infanti, Ten Years After Windsor and Obergefell: The Tax Inequalities of Marriage Equality, U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2025-08, Feb. 24, 2025 (SSRN link.
Medicaid
- Generally
  - Means-tested program (asset and income)
  - Payer of last resort
- Eligibility
- New York MAGI Medicaid - ACA
- Long Term Care
- New York Non-MAGI Medicaid - Resource and Income Limits
  - Applicant
    - Assets
      - Nonexempt Assets
      - Exempt Assets
        
        Home equity - $1,097,000 in 2025
        
        Irrevocable funeral/burial arrangements
        
        Qualified retirement accounts if in payout status
    - Monthly Income
  - Spouse
    - Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA)
    - Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA)
    - NY has spousal refusal
MyCase
- MyCase website: https://www.mycase.com/
- MyCase API
  - MyCase's API is available only in the Advanced subscription.
  - MyCase API Documentation
New York City
- NYC narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 1975. See Jeff Nussbaum, The Night New York Saved Itself from Bankruptcy, New Yorker, Oct. 16, 2015.
Nonprofits
- Endowment Taxtion
  - Skyler E. Dykes, Note: Taxing Cultural Endowments, 102 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1299 (2025).
NY Absentee
- Rebecca T. Goldberg, Proposal to Amend EPTL § 2-1.7(a), NYSBA Trusts and Estates Law Section Newsletter, Vol. 46 No. 1, Spring 2013.
Accounting Proceeding
- Standing: Who has standing in an accounting proceeding?
- Burden of Proof Is on Accounting Fiduciary
- Compulsory Accounting Proceeding
  - Surviving Spouse Can Commence Compulsory Accounting
    - Executor Can Object to Compulsory Accounting By Alleging Surviving Spouse Lacks Standing
- Voluntary Accounting
  - 207.40 Accountings
- 🔑 Essential Lexis Resources for Understanding Fiduciary Accountings in New York
- 🔑 Computer Programs for Preparing Surrogate's Court Accounting
NY Ademption
- What Is Ademption?
- What Can Cause Ademption?
  - Sale
  - Satisfaction
- Admeption by Sale
- Ademption by Satisfaction
- Partial Ademption
- Tracing Proceeds
- Statutory Exception to Ademption
  - ➡️ EPTL 3-4.4: Exception to Ademption for Property Transferred by Guardian
- Exceptions in Wills
  - Mary Kay Lundwall, The Case against the Ademption by Extinction Rule: A Proposal for Reform, 29 Gonz. L. Rev. 105 (1993).: "If the testator has expressly provided for a gift of the proceeds of a sale or an alternate sum of money, those preferences will, of course, be given effect."
NY Administrator C.T.A.
- Generally: 🖇️ Definitions for administrator c.t.a.
- Renunciation of Letters of Administration C.T.A.
  - 🔑 Sample Renunciation of Letters of Administration C.T.A. and Waiver of Process (SCAP 1418)
NY Advance Sheets
- What are advance sheets?
- Why are advance sheets useful?
- How do you find advance sheets?
- Why are there blank notes pages at the end of advance sheets?
- How the Digest-Index came to have two citations to cases.
NY Adverse Possession
- ➡️ Elements of adverse possession.
- See ➡️ NY: Challenging Adverse Possession in Estate Administration—Lessons from Matter of Elliott
NY Affirmations
- Deciphering the Confusion: Understanding New York's Two New Rules on Affirmations
NY Ancillary Letters
- 🔑 Can a Foreign Fiduciary Collect a New York POD Account?
- 🔑 Can You Get Ancillary Letters in New York Based on a Small Estate Proceeding?
NY Appeals
- Preservation of Issues Required: Appellate courts generally refuse to consider issues that were not properly preserved below. Preservation requires that the issue be raised in the lower court at the appropriate time and in a manner that gives the court a fair opportunity to address it.
  - Issue Is Not Preserved When Raised for First Time on Appeal: An issue "raised for the first time on appeal" is, by definition, not preserved in the lower court. Appellate courts routinely deem such issues unreviewable or abandoned.
    - "this argument was not made before Surrogate's Court and is impermissibly raised for the first time on appeal (see Matter of Colihan v State of New York, 211 AD3d 1432, 1435 [3d Dept 2022]) . . . Since respondent did not raise any challenge concerning the witness fee ruling by Surrogate's Court, such contention is deemed abandoned (see Currie v Oneida Health Sys., Inc., 222 AD3d 1284, 1291 [3d Dept 2023])." Matter of Shannon, 2025 NY Slip Op 04129 (App. Div. 3d July 10, 2025).
    - "The executor's remaining contention is raised for the first time on appeal and therefore is not preserved for our review (see C-Kitchen Assoc., Inc. v Travelers Ins. Co., 11 AD3d 961, 962, 782 NYS2d 486 [2004])." Matter of Grawe, 32 A.D.3d 1309, 822 N.Y.S.2d 683 (App. Div. 4th Dep’t 2006)..
NY Appearances
- NY Surrogate's Court Rules 207.9 Appearances
Attorney and Client
- Compensation (Attorney Fees)
  - Voluntary Payment Doctrine
    - Client’s Payment of Initial Retainer Did Not Constitute Voluntary Payment. Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP v Harsh Imports, Inc., 86 Misc 3d 550.
NY Bank Accounts
- The Toothless POA Law: Why Banks Still Reject Valid Statutory Powers of Attorney in New York
- Two Names on a Bank Account
  - Banking Law § 675
    - Enacted in L.1964 Ch.157
    - Adopted a "rebuttable presumption rule," abolishing the "conclusive evidence rule" that existed for some bank accounts. So, a surviving co-tenant can provide evidence to rebut the presumption of ownership of the joint account.
NY Beneficiary Designations
- Definition: ➡️ beneficiary form. EPTL 13-4.1(a).
- See 🔗 Wills and beneficiary designations.
NY Capacity
- 🔑 Competence Is Presumed; Party Asserting Incapacity Must Prove It
- 🔑 Alzheimer’s Patients Not Presumed Incompetent; Incompetence Must Be Proven at Transaction Time
- ➡️ Guardian Cannot Amend Revocable Trust When Capacity Is Required for Amendment
NY Charitable Trusts
- 🔑 Navigating Attorney General Requirements for Wholly Charitable Testamentary Trusts
NY Choice of Law Clause
- 🔑 State Selected In Choice of Law Clause Governs Substantive Issues, Procedural Matters Governed by Forum State
NY Civil Practice Rules (CPLR)
- ➡️ CPLR 3102: Method of Obtaining Disclosure
- ➡️ CPLR Rule 3211: Motion to Dismiss
- ➡️ CPLR Rule 3217: Voluntary Discontinuance
NY Conflict of Laws
- Definition of 🔠 conflict of laws.
- 🔑 Forum State Determines Whether Question Is Procedural or Substantive
- 🔑 Statutes of Limitations are Procedural
NY Construction Proceeding
- 🔑 NY: Surrogate's Court Cannot Interpret Will Before Probate
- 🔑 Construction Proceeding Does Not Violate In Terrorem Clause
- 🔑 Executor’s Adversarial Position in Construction Proceeding Bars Charging Legal Fees to Estate
NY Constructive Trust
- 🔑 What Is a Constructive Trust in New York?
NY Cooperative Apartments (COOPs)
- ➡️ NY TOD Deed: Not for Coops
NY Contracts
- Implied-in-Fact Contract
  - An implied-in-fact contract requires a meeting of the minds--a question which is generally resolved by the trier of fact. See Mediant Communications Inc. v Spectrum Pharms., Inc., 2025 NY Slip Op 03161 (App. Div. 1st Dept., May 27, 2025).
  - Course of Conduct
    - The parties' course of conduct can establish an implied-in-fact contract. See Mediant Communications Inc. v Spectrum Pharms., Inc., 2025 NY Slip Op 03161 (App. Div. 1st Dept., May 27, 2025).
NY Contracts Relating to Wills
- 🖇️ NY Joint Will
- 🖇️ NY Mutual Reciprocal Wills
- Right of Sepulcher
  - Summary judgment granted dismissing complaint alleging interference with right of sepulcher where plaintiff signed forms authorizing city burial of fetuses. Taylor v New York City Health & Hosps. Corp., 86 Misc 3d 1231(A), 2025 NY Slip Op 51077(U).
  - Contested Requisite Elements Satisﬁed—Form Designating Plaintiff as Agent to Control Disposition of Remains and Certiﬁcate of Domestic Partnership. Stanley v. City of New York, 238 AD3d 682.
NY Dead Man's Statute
- CPLR 4519
NY Delegation by Trustee
- SCPA 2115: Review of costs of delegation by trustee
NY Discovery
- Statutes
  - CPLR Article 31
  - SCPA 2103
- Scope of Disclosure (Broad Discovery) – CPLR 3101
  - Statute: ➡️ CPLR § 3101 Scope of disclosure
    - CPLR 3101(b) has two requirements:
      - (A) Substantial need of the materials
      - AND (B) Information cannot be obtained elsewhere without substantial hardship
    - (A) Subtantial need
    - (B) Cannot be obtained elsehwere
  - 🔑 Discovery of Tax Returns In New York Under CPLR § 3101
  - 🔑 Decedent-Owned Records Are Not Fiduciary Property (Rule + Authority) (New York)
  - 🔑 Records Created During Administration Must Be Disclosed (Rule + Authority) (New York)
- Methods of Obtaining Disclosure - CPLR 3102
  - Disclsoure Devices: CPLR 3102(a) permits information to be obtaining by one or more of the following disclosure devices:
    - Depositions upon oral questions
    - Depositions without the state upon written questions
    - Interrogatories
    - Demands for addresses
    - Discovery and inspection of documents or property
    - Physical and mental examinations of persons
    - Requests for admission
    - Bills of particulars
  - Discovery Methods: CPLR 3102(b) governs disclosure methods.
    - CPLR 3102(b) identifies three disclosure methods, unless otherwise provided by the civil practice law and rule or by the court:
      - Stipulation
      - On notice
      - By leave of the court
    - CPLR 3102(b) states that disclsoure is generally obtained by stipulation or on notice iwthout leave of court.
  - Before Action Commenced: CPLR 3102(c) allows disclosure even before an action is started but only by court order.
    - CPLR 3102(c) identifies the reasons for pre-action disclosure:
      - To aid in brining an action
      - To preserve information
      - To aid in arbitration
    - CPLR 3102(c) states that acourt may appoint a referee to take testimony.
  - After Trial: CPLR 3102(d) states that after a trial is commenced, dislcosure can only be obtained by court order on notice, unless CPLR 5223 provides otherwise.
  - Actions Pending in Another Jurisdiction: CPLR 3102(e) governs diclosure when an action is pending in another jurisdiction.
  - Action to Which States Is Party: CPLR 3102(f) states that when the state is a party (whether as plaintiff, defendant or otherwise), disclosure by the state will be available as if the state were a private person.
NY Elder Law
- 🔗 New York State Master Plan for the Aging (MPA)
- 🔗 NY Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)
- ➡️ From “Senior” to “Older Adult” — and Why We Still Say “Elder Law”
- ➡️ NY Executive Order No. 23: Establishing the New  York State Master Plan for Aging (2022)
- ➡️ Health Across All Policies (HAAP) In New York
- ➡️ The New York State Prevention Agenda: New York’s Blueprint for Better Health
- ➡️ What Is Age-Friendly New York?
- ➡️ What Is the Age-Friendly Health System Initiative (AFHS)?
- ➡️ What Is the New York State Plan on Aging (NYSPOA)?
- ➡️ New York Named First Age-Friendly State in the Nation (2017)
- ➡️ New York State Department of Health: Statewide Public Health with Programs for Older Adults
- ➡️ New York State Office for the Aging: Empowering Older New Yorkers to Age with Independence
- ➡️ Understanding New York’s Master Plan for Aging Council
- ➡️ Understanding New York’s Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Advisory Committee
- ➡️Understanding the New York State Olmstead Plan
- New York’s Expanded In-home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP)
NY Electronic Wills
- Assembly Bill A7856A
- NY City Bar Commercial Law and Uniform State Laws Committee (Gizem Alper, Chair)
  - 2025-06 Report on the Proposed Electronic Wills Act in NY – PDF, website
  - 2025-11-14 Letter to Governor Hochul expressing support for bill with negotiated chapter amendments
  - Governor Hochul Signs Electronic Wills Act
NY Equitable Doctrine of Substituted Judgment
- Courts apply this doctrine to determine whether to approve a gift on behalf of persons who lack the capacity to handle their own affairs.
- The doctrine of substituted judgment is available in a Mental Hygiene Law Article 81 guardianship. See MHL 81.21.
- Courts disagree on whether the doctrine of substituted judgment is available in a SCPA Article 17-A guardianship.
  - SCPA Article 17-A does not have a list of factors like that available for an Article 81 guardianship in MHL 81.21.
  - Not Available in New York County Surrogate's Court: In Matter of John J.H., Surrogate Glen held that the court cannot exercise substituted judgment on behalf of article 17-A wards who never had the capacity to handle their own affairs and that an Article 81 guardianship would be required.
  - Available in Bronx County Surrogate's Court: In Matter of Joyce G.S., 913 N.Y.S.2d 910 (Sur. Ct. Bronx Co. 2010), Surrogate Holzman held "that, under the law as it presently exists, it has the power to invoke the equitable doctrine of substituted judgment to approve gifts or tax saving transactions on behalf of article 17-A wards.").
NY Equitable Estoppel
NY Estate Tax
- Sinkhole
  - Resources on the NY Estate Tax Sinkhole
    - Paul S. Forster & Laurence Keiser, The New York State Estate Tax Regime and the Santa Clause Revisited: It Only Gets Worse On or After January 1, 2019, NYSBA Trusts and Estates Law Section Newsletter, Vol. 50 No. 4, Winter 2017.
- NYTL § 954: Residents New York Gross Estate
  - NYTL § 954(a)(3) Clawed Back Gifts Under IRC § 2503
    - ➡️ NY Estate Tax: Why Clawed-Back Gifts Don’t Get a Basis Step-Up
  - NYTL § 954(a)(4) Clawed Back Gifts for NY Estate Tax Purposes
    - Reform of NYTL § 954(a)(4)
      - ➡️ NY Budget Proposal Makes Clawback Tax Permanent, Pushes for Deductibility, and Ends Apportionment for Gifts
      - ➡️ Business Council’s Testimony Helped Shape Proposed NYTL § 954(a)(3) Amendment
NY Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) 🔗
- Article 1: General Provisions
  - Part 1: Short Title: How Cited; References; Severability; Application
    - EPTL 1-1.1 Short title; how cited
    - EPTL 1-1.2 References
    - EPTL 1-1.3 Rules governing use of certain words
    - EPTL 1-1.4 Severability
    - EPTL 1-1.5 Application
  - Part 2: Definitions
    - EPTL 1-2.1 Codicil
    - EPTL 1-2.2 Creator
    - EPTL 1-2.3 Demonstrative disposition
    - EPTL 1-2.4 Disposition
    - EPTL 1-2.5 Distributee
    - EPTL 1-2.6 Estate
    - EPTL 1-2.7 Fiduciary
    - EPTL 1-2.8 General disposition
    - EPTL 1-2.9 Incompetent
    - EPTL 1-2.9-A Infant or minor
    - EPTL 1-2.10 Issue
    - EPTL 1-2.11 Per capita
    - EPTL 1-2.12 Person
    - EPTL 1-2.13 Personal representative
    - EPTL 1-2.14 Per stirpes
    - EPTL 1-2.15 Property
    - EPTL 1-2.16 Representation
    - EPTL 1-2.17 Specific disposition
    - EPTL 1-2.18 Tetamentary beneficiary
    - EPTL 1-2.19 Will
    - ➡️ EPTL 1-2.20 Lifetime trust
- Article 2: Rules Governing Dispositions Subject to This Law
  - Part 1: Substantive Rules Governing Dispositions
    - EPTL 2-1.1 Heirs at law and next of kin defined
    - EPTL 2-1.2 Issue to take per capita, per stirpes or by representation
    - EPTL 2-1.3 Adopted children and posthumous children as members of a class
    - EPTL 2-1.4 Words of inheritance unnecessary
    - EPTL 2-1.5 Advancements and their adjustment
    - EPTL 2-1.6 Disposition of property where a person dies within on hundred twenty hours of another person or any other event
    - EPTL 2-1.7 Presumption of death from absence; effect of exposure to specific peril
      - ➡️ Text of EPTL 2-1.7 and some 🔑 notes.
    - EPTL 2-1.8 Apportionment of federal and estate or other death taxes; fiduciary to collect taxes from property taxed and transferees thereof
    - EPTL 2-1.9 Distributions in kind by executors and trustees
    - EPTL 2-1.10 Provisions relating to infants and minors
    - EPTL 2-1.11 Renunciation of property interests
    - EPTL 2-1.12 Credit shelter formula bequests
    - EPTL 2-1.13 Certain formula clauses to be construed to refer to the federal estate and generation-skipping transfer tax laws applicable to estates of decedents dying after December thirty-first, two thousand nine and before January first, two thousand eleven
    - EPTL 2-1.14 Right to recover state estate and gift taxes where decedent retain interest
    - EPTL 2-1.15 Consequences of partly ineffective dispositions of trust principal to two or more beneficiaries
- Article 3: Substantive Law of Wills
  - Part 1: Who May Make and Receive Testamentary Dispositions of Property; What Property May Be Disposed of By Will
  - Part 2: Execution of Wills
  - Part 3: Rules Governing Testamentary Dispositions
    - 🔑 EPTL 3-3.5: Conditions Qualifying Dispositions; Conditions Against Contest; Limitations Thereon
  - Part 4: Revocation of Wills and Related Subjects
    - ➡️ EPTL 3-4.4: Conveyance of property of an incompetent or conservatee, previously disposed of specifically by will, not revocation or ademption
  - Part 5: Rules Governing Wills Having Relation to Another Jurisdiction
- Article 4: Descent and Distribution of an Intestate Estate
- Article 5: Family Rights
  - Part 1: Rights of Surviving Spouse
    - ➡️ EPTL 5-1.4: Revocatory effect of divorce, annulment or declaration of nullity, or dissolution of marriage on disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination regarding a former spouse
  - Part 3: Rights of Family Unit
  - Part 4: Rights of Members of Family Resulting from Wrongful Act, Neglect or Default Causing Death of Decedent
- Article 6: Classification, Creation, Definition Of, and Rules Governing Estates in Property
- Article 7: Trusts
  - Part 1: Rules Governing Trusts
    - EPTL 7-1.1 When trust interests not to merge
    - EPTL 7-1.2 Trustee of passive trust not to take
    - EPTL 7-1.3 Purchase-money resulting trust abolished
    - EPTL 7-1.4 Purposes for which trust may be created
    - EPTL 7-1.5 When trust interest inalienable; exception
    - EPTL 7-1.6 Application of principal to income beneficiary
    - EPTL 7-1.7 Interest remaining in creator of trust
    - EPTL 7-1.8 Duration of trust for benefit of creditors
    - EPTL 7-1.9 Revocation of Trusts
    - EPTL 7-1.10 Provision by non-domiciliary creator as to law to govern trust
    - EPTL 7-1.11 Application of principal to creator of trust as reimbursement
    - ➡️ EPTL 7-1.12 Supplemental needs trusts established for persons with severe and chronic or persistent disabilities
      - ➡️ Understanding EPTL 7-1.12: Third-Party and Self-Settled Supplemental Needs Trusts in New York
      - See 🖇️ New York Supplemental and Special Needs Trusts
    - EPTL 7-1.13 Division of trusts and establishment of separate trust
    - EPTL 7-1.14 Who may make a lifetime trust
    - EPTL 7-1.15 What property may be disposed of by lifetime trust
    - EPTL 7-1.16 Revocation of lifetime trust by will
    - EPTL 7-1.17 Execution, amendment and revocation of lifetime trusts
    - [EPTL 7-1.18 Funding of lifetime trust(https://www.willstrustsestates.info/why-you-need-to-ensure-your-new-york-revocable-trust-has-title-to-your-assets/#eptl-7-1-18)
    - EPTL 7-1.19 Application for termination of uneconomical trust
  - Part 2 Rules Governing Trustees
    - EPTL 7-2.1 Extend of trustee's estate
    - EPTL 7-2.2 When estate of trustee ceases
    - EPTL 7-2.3 Trust estate not to descend on death of trustee; appointment, duties and rights of successor trustee
    - EPTL 7-2.4 Act of trustee in contravention of trust
    - EPTL 7-2.5 Suspension of powers of trustee in war service
    - ➡️ EPTL 7-2.6 Resignation, suspension or removal of trustee
    - EPTL 7-2.7 Accounting by trustee in supreme court
    - EPTL 7-2.8 Commissions of trustee to sell real property for benefit of creditors
  - Part 3 Rights of Purchasers, Creditors and Other Persons
  - Part 5 Bank Accounts in Trust Form
  - Part 6 Uniform Transfers to Minors Act
  - Part 7 Child Performer Trust Account
  - Part 8 Honorary Trusts For Pets
- Article 8: Charitable Trusts
- Article 9: Perpetuities and Accumulations
- Article 10: Powers
- Article 11: Fiduciary: Powers, Duties and Limitations; Actions By or Against in Representative or Individual Capacities
  - ➡️ EPTL 11-1.1: Fiduciaries' Powers
  - ➡️ EPTL 11-1.7: Limitation on Powers and Immunities of Executors and Trustees
- Article 11-A: Uniform Principal and Income Act
- Article 12: Actions By Creditors and Other Persons Against Distributees and Testamentary Beneficiaries
- Article 13: Other Provisions Affecting Estates
  - Part 1: Assets of Decedent's Estate
  - Part 2: Statute of Frauds Requirements
  - Part 3: Miscellaneous Provisions
  - Part 4: Transfer-on-death Security Registration
    - EPTL 13-4.1 Definitions
      - ➡️ EPTL 13-4.1(a) defines "beneficiary form."
    - EPTL 13-4.2 Registration in beneficiary form; sole or joint tenancy
    - EPTL 13-4.3 Applicable law
    - EPTL 13-4.4 Origination or registration in beneficiary form
    - EPTL 13-4.5 Form of registration in beneficiary form
    - EPTL 13-4.6 Effect of registration in beneficiary form
      - ➡️ EPTL 13-4.6(b) allows testators to revoke or amend a beneficiary designation.
    - EPTL 13-4.7 Ownership on death of owner
    - EPTL 13-4.8 Protection of registering entity
    - EPTL 13-4.9 Nontestamentary transfer on death
    - EPTL 13-4.10 Terms, conditions, and forms
    - EPTL 13-4.11 Rules of construction
    - EPTL 13-4.12 Application
- Article 13-A: Administration of Digital Assets Summary of Article
- Article 14: Repealer; Derivation and Distribution Tables; Effective Date
NY Ethics
- Client Under a Disability
  - [NYSBA Opinion #746 (2001)](https://nysba.org/opinion-746/? srsltid=AfmBOopoa1Xx1pIWo8Noh7JijNezM-jMFTzaMPtBAMFVoPY4jWlZhIts): A lawyer serving as a client's attorney-in-fact may petition for a guardian for an incapacitated client only if no other practical alternatives exist and the client cannot consent. The attorney may represent themselves in the proceeding if the client does not oppose the petition and the attorney will not be a witness. The lawyer’s primary responsibility remains to the client, even if the client’s decision-making capacity is impaired.
  - Rule 1.14 (Clients with Diminished Capacity): When the client (i.e., the principal) is incapacitated, Rule 1.14 permits but does not require the lawyer to take protective action. Some lawyers in the NYSBA thread prefer to avoid treating the principal as client to avoid Rule 1.14 obligations—but legally, the principal remains the client in most cases unless you’re truly representing the agent personally.
  - ABA Formal Opinion 96-404: "Withdrawal is appropriate only if it can be accomplished without prejudice to the client. The protective action should be the least restrictive under the circumstances. The appointment of a guardian is a serious deprivation of the client's rights and ought not be undertaken if other, less drastic, solutions are available. With proper disclosure to the court of the lawyer's self-interest, the lawyer may recommend or support the appointment of a guardian who the lawyer reasonably believes would be a fit guardian, even if the lawyer anticipates that the recommended guardian will hire the lawyer to handle the legal matters of the guardianship estate. However, a lawyer with a disabled client should not attempt to represent a third party petitioning for a guardianship over the lawyer's client."
  - "Lawyer who previously represented incapacitated Client in connection with the appointment of a Guardian for Client may later undertake dual representation of both Client and Guardian in a proceeding to terminate the guardianship, provided (a) Lawyer reasonably believes that Lawyer will be able to competently and diligently represent both clients, and (b) Lawyer obtains informed consent from each client, confirmed in writing." Ethics Opinion 836 (2010).
NY Executor
- Unresponsive executor
  - If a nominated executor becomes unresponsive before the probate petition, then a lawyer who is safekeeping their client's will can 🔑 file the will in court.
- Powers of executors
- Duties
  - Executor has a duty of impartiality
    - An executor "owes an absolute duty of impartiality to all the beneficiaries of the estate." Estate of Muller, 24 N.Y.2d 336 (1969) (surcharging executor-legatee for advances from the estate with interest for the time he had the use of the estate funds because "[a]n executor must at all times discharge his fiduciary duties so that all legatees are treated in like manner and without prejudice or discrimination.").
- Surcharge of executor
  - Estate of Muller, 24 N.Y.2d 336 (1969): Where an executor-legatee made avances from an estate, thereby violating the executor's "absolute duty of impartiality to all the beneficiaries of the estate," the executor was surcharged with interest for the time he had the use of the estate funds because "[a]n executor must at all times discharge his fiduciary duties so that all legatees are treated in like manner and without prejudice or discrimination.").
- Legal fees & executors
  - 🔑 Executor’s Adversarial Position in Construction Proceeding Bars Charging Legal Fees to Estate
- Sole-Executor-Attorney
  - A sole executor-attorney must comply with 22 NYCRR 207.16(e). See NY Probate Petition Question 1(b).
NY Family Exemption
- [🔑 NY: Petition to Compel Set Off of Family Exemption (Sample from Rockland County)(https://www.willstrustsestates.info/ny-petition-to-compel-set-off-of-family-exemption-sample-from-rockland-county-2/)
NY Fiduciaries
- Definitions
- Fiduciary Responsibilities
  - Fiduciaries are responsible for making decisions and may face personal liability for their actions. See ➡️ Driving the Estate: The Fiduciary’s Journey in Matter of Pugach.
  - 🔑 NY: Courts Will Not Direct When a Fiduciary Must Sell an Asset
  - Discovery of property by executor or administrator
    - Valid Transfer from Decedent’s Investment Account to Charitable Beneﬁciary Foundation Prior to Her Death—Decedent Intended for Transfer to be Made and it was in Decedent’s Best Interest. Matter of Rosenthal, 238 AD3d 1049.
- Judicial Oversight of Fiduciaries
  - Courts oversee fiduciary actions but do not substitute their judgment for that of the fiduciary. See ➡️ Driving the Estate: The Fiduciary’s Journey in Matter of Pugach.
  - 🔑 NY: Courts Will Not Direct When a Fiduciary Must Sell an Asset
NY Fiduciary Accountings
- Overview of Fiduciary Accountings
- Informal Accountings with Receipts & Releases (Non-Judicial Settlement, i.e., No Court Proceeding)
  - New York is not a mandatory accounting state, which means they do not have to file anything in court to show that an estate is completed. Fiduciaries of estates can simply provide beneficiaries with a statement of administration and obtain a Receipt & Release, and then distribute the assets. See Barry Seidel, How Estates End ....., queensprobate.com, Dec. 9, 2023; Office of the New York State Attorney General Charities Bureau, Informal Accountings for Charitable Estates and Trusts, Nov. 2021.
- Judicial Accountings (Court Proceeding)
  - Voluntary Accounting Proceeding
    - Petition by Fiduciary
    - Advantages of Judicial Settlement
    - Contents of Petition and Schedule
    - Effect of Decree on Fiduciary Liability
  - Intermediate Accounting Proceeding
    - When an Intermediate Accounting Is Appropriate
    - Procedural Distinctions from Final Accountings
    - Court-Ordered vs. Voluntary Intermediate Accountings
    - Effect of Decree and Reservation of Jurisdiction
  - Compulsory Accounting Proceeding
    - Petition
      - Standing to petition to compel a fiduciary to account - See SCPA § 2205(2)
    - Citations
  - Contested Accounting Proceeding
    - Objections
    - Affirmative Defenses by Fiduciary
      + Standing
      + Receipt and Release
      + Statue of Limitations
    - Summary Judgment
  - Procedure Common to All Accounting Proceedings
    - Petition
    - Schedules
    - Citation, Notice, and Jurisdiction - SCPA § 2210
    - Objections, Discovery, and Examinations - SCPA § 2211
    - Hearings and Decree
    - Effect of Decree
- Special Accountings
- Post-Decree Considerations
NY Duty of Impartiality
- 🖇️ Executor owes an absolute duty of impartialtiy to all beneficiaries.
- “[A] state statute that permits the trustee to make adjustments between income and principal to fulfill the trustee’s duty of impartiality between the income and remainder beneficiaries is generally a reasonable apportionment of the total return of the trust,” and thus ordinarily will be respected for federal income tax purposes. Treas. Reg. § 1.643(b)-1.
NY Trustee's Duty of Loyalty
- Self-Dealing
- Commingling
- Overreaching
- Impartiality
- Resources on the Duty of Loyalty in New York
  - 2 NY Practice Guide: Probate & Estate Admin § 26.01 Duty of Loyalty (🔒 Lexis Link)
NY Guardianship
- ➡️ Guardian Cannot Amend Revocable Trust When Capacity Is Required for Amendment.
- Guardianship services for nursing home: 🔑 Sample language in retainer agreement.
- Article 17-A Guardianship
  - Terminating Guardianship (SCPA 1759)
    - 🔑 Guardianship Termination in New York: A Step Toward Independence
- Article 81
  - Three Types of Guardians Under MHL Article 81
    - Temporary Guardian
    - Special Guardian
      - MHL § 81.16(a)
    - Permanent Guardian
  - Reginal Kiperman, Temporary, Special, or Permanent NYC Article 81 Guardianship – Which One is Right for Your Situation?, RK Law, Aug. 3, 2021.
Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (RPAPL § 993)
- 🔑 Resolving Heirs Property Disputes in NY – A Case Study of Estate of Donato v. Estate of Donato
NY Historic District for Home
- ➡️ How to Find Your Home’s Historic District in New York: A Step-by-Step Guide
NY In Terrorem Clause
- When Enforceable?
  - 🔑 NY: In Terrorem Clauses Enforceable Whether or Not a Gift Over Exists
- Whether a no-contest clause is triggered: Which actions trigger an in terrorem clause?
  - Safe Harbors
    - 🔑 Construction Proceeding Does Not Violate In Terrorem Clause
- Nicole L. Johnson, No One Can Contest a New York Will If It Includes an In Terrorem Clause. Right? Right?!?!?!!?, National Review, Dec. 23, 2024.
NY Incorporation By Reference
- Applies to wills, but not lifetime trusts.
  - Matter of Jakobson, 169 Misc. 2d 630 (N.Y. Sur. Ct. Nassau Co. 1996): "It is clear on review by this court that the doctrine of incorporation by reference applies to wills (Booth v Baptist Church of Christ, 126 N.Y. 215) and not inter vivos trusts which are contractual agreements as opposed to testamentary instruments."
NY Insolvent Estate
- Frank T. Santoro, Guideposts in Addressing Claims in a Potentially Insolvent Estate, NYSBA Trusts and Estates Law Section Newsletter, Vol. 46 No. 1, Spring 2013.
NY Intervivos Trust
- Formation
  - Beaver v. Beaver, 117 N.Y. 421 (1889): "There was no declaration of trust in this case, in terms, when the deposit of July 5, 1866, was made, nor at any time afterwards, and none can be implied from a mere deposit by one person in the name of another. HN1[ ] To constitute a trust there must be either an explicit declaration of trust, or circumstances which show beyond reasonable doubt that a trust was intended to be created. It would introduce a dangerous instability of titles, if anything less was required, or if a voluntary trust inter vivos could be established in the absence of express words, by circumstances capable of another construction, or consistent with a different intention. ( Young v. Young, 80 N. Y. 438, and cases cited.)"
NY Intestate Administration
- 🔑 Sample Retainer Agreement for Intestate Estate Administration in New York
- 🔑 Can a Foreign Fiduciary Collect a New York POD Account?
- 🔑 NY Intestate Estate: Notice of Election (Surviving Spouse)
NY Irrevocable Trust
- Uses of Irrevocable Trusts
  - Asset Protection
  - Charitable Planning
  - Estate Planning
  - Elder Law Planning (Long-Term Care Planning)
    - See 🖇️ NY Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT).
  - Retirement Planning
  - Tax Planning
- Funding a Lifetime Irrevocable Trust
  - ➡️ Why You Need to Ensure Your New York Revocable Trust Has Title to Your Assets - Discusses EPTL 7-1.18.
- 🔑 Real Property in Irrevocable Trust: Beneficiaries Don’t Own the Real Property
NY Joint Venture
- "[A]s a general proposition, absent an agreement to the contrary, partners, joint venturers, and tenants in common look solely to the appreciation of their interest in the endeavor for their financial rewards, and are not entitled to separate compensation for services rendered (see, Levy v Leavitt, 257 N.Y. 461, 467; Myers v Bolton, 157 N.Y. 393, 399)." Birnbaum v. Birnbaum, 73 NY 2d 461 (1989).
NY Joint Will
NY Landlord & Tenant
- Residential Lease
  - ➡️ New York: Residential Leases Must Now Have a Flood Disclosure, Sept. 29, 2023.
- Litigation: Summary Proceedings
  - ➡️ New Notice of Petition and Petition in Summary Landlord & Tenant Proceedings
  - Does a Process Server Have to Testify at an Inquest in NYC Housing Court?, Oct. 8, 2023.
- Deceased Tenant
  - ➡️ RPL § 236-A Termination of lease of a deceased tenant
- New York City
  - 🔑 NYC Housing Maintenance Code Chart, July 10, 2023.
  - NYC Restriction on Short-Term Rentals Goes Into Effect, Oct. 13, 2023.
  - 🔑 NYC's Mandatory Composting Law Turns Landlords into Waste Enforcers
  - New York City Marshals Handbook of Regulations, April 24, 2013.
NY Law of the Case 🔗
- ➡️ Understanding the “Law of the Case” Doctrine
- "The law of the case doctrine is part of a larger family of kindred concepts, which includes res judicata (claim preclusion) and collateral estoppel (issue preclusion). These doctrines, broadly speaking, are designed to limit relitigation of issues. . . . . As distinguished from issue preclusion and claim preclusion . . . law of the case addresses the potentially preclusive effect of judicial determinations made in the course of a single litigation before final judgment." People v. Evans, 94 N.Y.2d 499, 502 (2000) (citations omitted, emphasis in original).
- "[I]t does not foreclose reexamination of a question where there is a showing of subsequent evidence (see Applehole v Wyeth Ayerst Labs., 213 AD3d 611 [1st Dept 2023]) . . . ." Matter of Hoppenstein v. Hoppenstein, 225 AD 3d 489 (NY App. Div. 1st Dept. 2024).
- "[I]t applies only to legal determinations that were necessarily resolved on the merits in the prior decision (see 47 E. 34th St. [NY] L.P. v BridgeStreet Worldwide, Inc., 219AD3d 1196, 1201 [1st Dept 2023]; Metropolitan Steel Indus., Inc. v Perini Corp., 36 AD3d 568, 570 [1st Dept 2007]). The court's July 29, 2019 decision denying the prior motion for summary judgment was based on providing objectants with the opportunity to obtain discovery, and the decision did not resolve the issues on the merits." Matter of Hoppenstein v. Hoppenstein, 225 AD 3d 489 (NY App. Div. 1st Dept. 2024).
- "In opposition, defendants argue that it is the law of the case that issues of fact preclude summary resolution of plaintiff’s account stated claim and defendants’ malpractice counterclaims. . . . DISCUSSION . . . As a threshold matter, the law of the case does not bar this motion. Contrary to defendants’ claim, the Appellate Division did not conclude that issues of fact existed but left that determination for the trial court to make “in the first instance.” In any event, plaintiff has submitted additional materials on this motion that were not previously before the trial court or Appellate Division (see Massey v Byrne, 164 AD3d 416, 416-17 [1st Dept 2018] [the law of the case “operates to foreclose re-examination of the question absent a showing of subsequent evidence…”]). Accordingly, the Court turns to the merits of the motion." Goldstein v. Scott Seidler Family Trust, 2025 NY Slip Op 31422(U) (Supreme Court, NY County April 22, 2025).
NY Legal Fees in Litigation
- 🔑 Executor’s Adversarial Position in Construction Proceeding Bars Charging Legal Fees to Estate
NY Legislation
- ➡️ When Is the Legislative Session in New York?
NY Life Estate
- ➡️ NY: When Executors Have No Authority Over Real Estate – Lessons from In re Purdy
- Life estate v. a right to occupancy
NY Lifetime Trusts
- NY SCPA 207: Lifetime Trusts; Jurisdiction and Venue
NY Limited Liability Company (LLC) 🔗
- 🔑 Accounting for Interest Income in a Rental LLC (Apple Numbers)
- Membership Interest in an LLC Is Personal Property
- 🔑 LLC Management and MAPTs: Balancing Control and NY Medicaid Eligibility
- Assignment of Membership Interest
  - Assignable? Are membership interests assignable?
    - Default Rule: Membership interests are assignable in whole or in part. LLCL § 603(a)(2).
    - Exception: Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
  - Effect of Assignment?
    - Dissolution? Does an assignment of membership interests cause a dissolution?
      - Default Rule: No dissolution. LLCL § 603(a)(2).
      - Exception: Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
      - Sample Clause: Example of a 🔑 clause from an Operating Agreement treating assignment as dissolution.
    - Management (Vote)?
      - Default Rules:
        
        Assignee does not participate in management. LLCL § 603(a)(2), 603(a)(3).
        
        Assignor can no longer participate in management because "a member ceases to be a member and to have the power to exercise any rights or powers of a member upon assignment of all of his or her membership interest." LLCL § 603(a)(4).
      - Exception: Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
    - Profits and Losses? What happens to the distributions and allocations of profits and losses?
      - Default Rule: Assignee gets assignors share of profits and losses. LLCL § 603(a)(3).
      - Exception: Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
  - What Does Assignee Get? As outlined below, the default rule is that the assignee only gets the assignor's share of distributions and allocations of profits and losses. LLCL § 603(a)(3). But the operating agreement can override this default. LLCL § 603(a).
    - Distributions and Allocation of Profits and Losses?
      - Default: Yes. LLCL § 603(a)(3).
      - Exceptions:
        
        Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
        
        Assigneed becomes a member per LLCL § 604(a). See 🔑 How an LLC Assignee Becomes a Member Under NY Law.
    - Liabilities?
      - Default: No, not until the assignee becomes a member. LLCL § 603(c).
      - Exceptions:
        
        Assumption agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(c).
        
        Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(c).
        
        Assigneed becomes a member per LLCL § 604(a). See 🔑 How an LLC Assignee Becomes a Member Under NY Law.
    - Management?
      - Default: No. LLCL § 603(a)(2).
      - Exception: Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
    - Member? Does the assignee become a member?
      - Default: No. LLCL § 604(a).
      - Exceptions:
        
        Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 604(a).
        
        Members other than assignor can vote or consent by writing to admit the assignee as a member. LLCL § 604(a).
      - For more information, see 🔑 How an LLC Assignee Becomes a Member Under NY Law.
    - Participate in Affairs?
      - Default: No. LLCL § 603(a)(2).
      - Exceptions:
        
        Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
        
        Assigneed becomes a member per LLCL § 604(a). See 🔑 How an LLC Assignee Becomes a Member Under NY Law.
    - Powers of Members?
      - Default: No. LLCL § 603(a)(2).
      - Exceptions:
        
        Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
        
        Assigneed becomes a member per LLCL § 604(a). See 🔑 How an LLC Assignee Becomes a Member Under NY Law.
    - Rights of Members?
      - Default: No. LLCL § 603(a)(2).
      - Exceptions:
        
        Operating agreement can override the default. LLCL § 603(a).
        
        Assigneed becomes a member per LLCL § 604(a). See 🔑 How an LLC Assignee Becomes a Member Under NY Law.
  - Resources
- Certificate of Membership? See LLCL § 603(b).
- Member Dies. See 🔑 NY: What Happens When an LLC Member Dies or Becomes Incompetent?.
- Member Becomes Incompetent. See 🔑 NY: What Happens When an LLC Member Dies or Becomes Incompetent?.
- Operating Agreement
  - 🔑 Form: Simple LLC Operating Agreement for One Member
NY Kiniship Proceedings in Surrogate's Court 🔗
- 🔑 NY: Sample Kinship Affidavit for Non-Marital Children of a Male Decedent
NY Married Couples
- Postnuptial Agreements
  - Grounds for setting aside a postnuptial agreement
- ➡️ "I Love You" Will Might Not Show Love to Surviving Spouse
- Anthony C. Infanti, Ten Years After Windsor and Obergefell: The Tax Inequalities of Marriage Equality, U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2025-08, Feb. 24, 2025 (SSRN link.
NY Master Plan for Aging ("MPA")
- 2022-11-04 Executive Order #23 (EO23): Full Text
  - Established the MPA.
  - Paragraph 4 of Executive Order #23 (EO23) called for the MPA Report.
- Preliminary Report issued in August of 2023
- Interim Report issued in October of 2024
- Advisory Report
  - "completed by the Stakeholder Advisory Committee in the fall of 2024, . . . evaluated all of the proposals generated throughout the MPA process for both potential impact and feasibility." MPA Final Report at 4.
- Final Report ("MPA Final Report")
  - Purpose
    - Identifies the most urgent needs of New York’s older adults and people with disabilities, and develops proposals that address those needs.
    - "The overall goal underpinning this MPA Report is to achieve the mission of ensuring older New Yorkers and New Yorkers with disabilities can live fulfilling lives, in good health, with freedom, dignity and independence to age in place for as long as possible." Final MPA Report at 3.
    - "This MPA Report complements other related efforts, such as the New York State Olmstead Plan, which is dedicated to improving the lives of New Yorkers with disabilities with a focus on improved community integration." Final MPA Report at 3.
  - More than 430 people worked in the MPA workgroups and subcommittees to produced the MPA Report.
  - Drafting process (from Final MPA Report at 4):
    - a Council of state agencies
    - a Stakeholder Advisory Committee
    - eight subcommittees overseeing 34 workgroups
    - "public input from more than 20 town halls and listening sessions across the state"
    - "more than 10 industry roundtables"
    - "a public survey that received more than 10,000 responses"
    - "It was further informed by the 2023 NYSOFA Statewide Needs Assessment Survey, which received more than 26,000 responses."
    - Includes commentary from the Council for each proposal.
- The Master Plan for Aging Council (the "MPA Council")
  - Issued the 🖇️ MPA Final Report with the assistance of more than 430 people who worked in the MPA workgroups and subcommittees.
  - It is a collection of State agencies.
  - It met since 12/7/2023.
- Next Steps
  - Policymaking: "Both the proposals and this commentary [from the MPA Council] are being submitted to the governor and shared with the public to inform policymaking, so that New York can continue to improve its services and supports for older adults." MPA Final Report at 3.
  - Implementation
    - Agencies "co-leading" MPA implementation process (from MPA Final Report at 3):
      - New York State Department of Health
      - New York State Office for Aging (NYSOFA), and
      - New York Department of State (DOS)
NY Matrimonial Law
- ➡️ New York County Supreme Court Grants Unsealing of Matrimonial Case File for Deceased Father’s Daughter
NY Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT)
- Generally
  - ➡️ Definition
- Benefits of a MAPT
  - Medicaid Planning: A New York Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) safeguards assets from being counted towards Medicaid eligibility after a lookback period. This trust also protects assets from Medicaid recovery after the grantor’s death, preserving them for loved ones. See ➡️ The Primary Purpose of a NY Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT).
  - Avoid probate
  - Tax savings are possible
    - Grantor trust
    - Stepped up basis
  - 🔑 Clause: Statement of Intent in a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust
- Structuring the MAPT
  - ➡️ IF appreciated (i.e., low basis) THEN estate tax inclusion FOR stepped-up basis
- 🔑 LLC Management and MAPTs: Balancing Control and NY Medicaid Eligibility
- Real estate in a MAPT
  - Primary residence
    - What if a home is subsequently sold?
      - What happens to the proceeds?
      - Does it matter if the trust has existed for more than 5 years?
      - What effect does the grantor's retained right for "exclusive use and occupancy" of the property have?
  - Rental property
    - Rent?
    - Carrying costs?
    - Repairs?
  - 🔑 Clause: Residence Provisions in Medicaid Asset Protection Trust
- 🔑 Form: Annotated Medicaid Asset Protection Trust
- Resources
  - Christina Lamm, A Tax Map to Your MAPT, NYSBA Elder and Special Needs Law Journal, Vol. 31, No.3, 2021.
NY Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)
- Kate Silverstrim-Jensen, MAID in New York: Medical Aid in Dying Act Awaits Governor’s Decision, Syracuse Law Review, July 17, 2025.
NY Motion to Dismiss Complaint
- NY CPLR Rule 3211: Motion to Dismiss
- Insufficient Complaint: If the complaint does not state a cause of action.
  - 🔑 NY: Affidavits Irrelevant in Motion to Dismiss Based on Complaint’s Sufficiency
- Court’s Review Process: What does the court consider when reviewing the motion?
  - 🔑 NY: Affidavits Irrelevant in Motion to Dismiss Based on Complaint’s Sufficiency
NY Mutual Reciprocal Wills
NY Notary
- Michael A. Markowitz, The Future Is Here: New York Approves Remote Online Notarization, NYSBA, April 11, 2023.
- NY Executive Law § 135-c: Electronic Notarization
NY Partnership
- Partnership Law § 52 Nature of partner's interest in the partnership: "A partner's interest in the partnership is his share of the profits and surplus and the same is personal property."
- Absent an agreement stating otherwise, the death of a partner causes dissolution of the partnership. Partnership Law § 62.
- "Partners, however,and particularly managing partners, owe a fiduciary duty to the other partners (see, Meinhard v Salmon, 249 N.Y. 458, 468)." Birnbaum v. Birnbaum, 73 NY 2d 461 (1989).
- "[A]s a general proposition, absent an agreement to the contrary, partners, joint venturers, and tenants in common look solely to the appreciation of their interest in the endeavor for their financial rewards, and are not entitled to separate compensation for services rendered (see, Levy v Leavitt, 257 N.Y. 461, 467; Myers v Bolton, 157 N.Y. 393, 399)." Birnbaum v. Birnbaum, 73 NY 2d 461 (1989).
NY Preliminary Executor
- Role of Preliminary Executor
  - "A preliminary executor is charged with marshalling assets not distribution of estate assets. Paramount to the court is that estate assets be preserved." Estate of Theodore Cohn, File 2023-838/B, (NY Sur. Ct., NY County, decision dated March 7, 2025).
- When Bond Required
  - A court can require a bond in specific circumstances, notwithstanding contrary language in a will.
    - Estate of Theodore Cohn, File 2023-838/B, (NY Sur. Ct., NY County, decision dated March 7, 2025): "Here, the Respondent has failed to appear in court after being duly cited, has not provided the court with a change of address and as per the statements provided by Respondent to petitioner appears to have exceeded the scope of his duties as a preliminary executor pending final probate of the will. To ensure that the estate assets are preserved, the Court directs that Respondent obtain a bond, notwithstanding language, in the will waiving a bond (Estate of Laurence J. Gold, 2001 NYLJ LEXIS 2639). The bond to be posted is set at Three Million Two Hundred Fifty Thousand and 00/00 ($3,250,000)."
- Revocation of Preliminary Letters by Court
  - Estate of Theodore Cohn, File 2023-838/B, (NY Sur. Ct., NY County, decision dated March 7, 2025): "With respect to revocation of the preliminary letters issued to Respondent, 'courts are required to exercise the power of removal sparingly and to nullify the testator’s choice only upon a clear showing of serious misconduct that endangers the safety of the estate' (Matter of Farber, 98 AD2d 720, quoting Matter of Israel, 64 Misc 2d 1035, 1043). Although the allegations of Petitioners, if proven true, could render Respondent to have endangered the safety of the estate and could deem him ineligible to continue to manage the estate or receive full letters testamentary, the court is not bound by conclusory allegations of the petitioner (Matter of Vermilye, 101 A.D.2d 865, 475 NYS 2d 888). The court directs that the Respondent’s preliminary letters are limited to collection of assets only, not distribution of assets."
- When Court Will Appoint Administrator C.T.A. Instead of Preliminary Exeuctor
  - Estate of Theodore Cohn, File 2023-838/B, (NY Sur. Ct., NY County, decision dated March 7, 2025): "Petitioner requests that in the alternative, Respondent’s letters be revoked and that an administrator C.T.A. be appointed. Such relief shall not be granted absent an evidentiary hearing setting forth further evidence of Respondent’s misconduct or inability to handle the estate, his opportunity to respond and upon the qualifications of the proposed successor preliminary executor being shown, which were not set forth in their affirmations. Therefore, Petitioner’s request to revoke and appoint an administrator CTA is denied and a hearing before the court shall be conducted."
NY Prenup
- 🔑 Presumed Valid: Prenups In New York Require a High Bar to Overcome
NY Probate
- NY has solemn form probate.
- Courts will admit a will to probate even when its terms are unenforceable. See Matter of Murray, 84 A.D.3d 106, 921 N.Y.S.2d 161 (2d Dep’t 2011).
NY Probate: Contested
- Objections to Probate
  - Will offered for probate was revoked
  - Testamentary capacity & intent
  - Presumption of due execution
  - Fraud
  - Undue influence
- Summary Judgment in Contested Probate Proceedings
  - Is Rare
  - Requires No Material Issues of Fact
  - Involves a Movant and Respondent
    - Movant Can Be Probate Petitioner
    - Respondent Must Raise Triable Issues of Fact
  - Court Reviews Evidence In Light Most Favorable to Respondent
NY Probate Decree
- 🔑 NY County Surrogate's Court: Sample Decree Granting Probate
NY Probate: Discovery
- 22 NYCRR § 207.27: ➡️ Uniform Rules for Surrogate’s Court § 207.27 usually imposes a five-year discovery period in contested probate proceedings, but courts may extend this period beyond the limit if “special circumstances” are demonstrated.
  - See 🔑 NY: Discovery Time Limit In Probate Proceedings.
  - See Probate Discovery Limits Upheld in Matter of Landau
- SCPA 1404 pre-objection discovery:
  - SCPA 1404] permits limited depositions of witnesses and document production in probate proceedings.
- Surrogate can limit discovery and impose sanctions when discovery demands are overbroad.
NY Probate: Petition
- SCPA 304: Contents of Petition
- Question 1(b) of the probate petition asks whether the proposed executor is an attorney and informs in a note that "[a] sole executor-attorney must comply with 22 NYCRR 207.16(e)."
NY Probate Retainer
- 🔑 Sample Hourly Retainer Agreement for Probate of a New York Estate
NY Powers of Appointment
- 🔑 Explanation of New York EPTL § 6-5.2: Power of Appointment Not to Prevent Vesting
- 🔑 Takers in Default of a Power of Appointment Have Standing in Accounting Proceeding
NY Power of Attorney
- Flaws in New York's Power of Attorney Law
  - Treats the agent as a fiduciary, but . . .
    - the principal can allow the agent to delegate all duties
    - some agents (such as a spouse) can commingle assets with the principal
  - The Toothless POA Law: Why Banks Still Reject Valid Statutory Powers of Attorney in New York
- 🔑 NY: Gifts by Attorney-in-Fact Upheld Without Explicit Gifting Authority
- 🔑 NY POA Without Gifting Authority in Modifications: Can Agent Fund Incapacitated Principal's Trust?
- Drafting
  - Modifications
    - Annuities
    - Beneficiary Designations
    - Business Activities
    - Business Succession Agreements
    - Caregiver Agreements
    - Compensation and Reimbursement to Agent
    - Companionship
    - Credit Cards
    - Deal with Tax Authorities
    - Domestic Pets
    - Domicile
    - Disclaimers and Statutory Elections
    - Duty to Account
    - Employment of Professionals
    - Enforcement Proceedings
    - Estate Transactions
    - Estate and Long Term Care Planning
    - Fixtures and Personality
    - Gifting Powers
    - Gift-Splitting
    - Government Agencies and Benefits
    - HIPAA Auhtorization
    - Insurance Transactions
    - Intent to Return Home
    - Loans and Notes
    - Marital Agreements and Designating of Spouse as Agent
    - Nomination of Guardian
    - Online Accounts, Digital Assets, and Digital Devices
      - Online Accounts
      - Digital Assets
      - Digital Devices
  - Ownership and Rights of Survivorship
  - Powers of Appointment
  - Qualified Plans
  - Reimbursement of Health Care Agent
  - Safe-Deposit Boxes
  - Spiritual and Religious Needs
  - Trusts
  - U.S. Mail
- Authority of Attorney-in-Fact to Make Gifts
  - Matter of Rosenthal, 238 AD3d 1049.
- Self-Dealing
  - Frustration of Estate Plan and Will
    - Selective Preservation of Assets Fiduciary Had Greater Interest as Beneﬁciary at Expense of Other Assets in Which Fiduciary Had Lesser Interest.—Matter of Metz, 238 AD3d 1477.
NY Power to Adjust (NY-PTA)
- New York's prudent investor standard (EPTL 11-2.3(b)) also authorizes the power to adjust under EPTL 11-2.3(b)(5). See ➡️ this post.
- ➡️ EPTL 11-2.3(b)(5): Nomenclature
- 🔑 EPTL 11-2.3(b)(5) Adjustments Must Be Reflected in Accounting
- A trustee-beneficiary cannot exercise the NY-PTA.
- GST-exempt is status not affected by equitable adjustments. PLR 200609003 (PDF)
NY Prudent Investor Act (NY-PIA) - EPTL 11-2.3
- Effective for any investment made or held on or after January 1, 1995 by a trustee. EPTL 11-2.3(a).
- Enacts the prudent investor rule. EPTL 11-2.3(a).
  - "incorporates basic principles of Restatement 3d, Trusts, Prudent Investor Rule, as adopted and promulgated by the American Law Institute on May 18, 1990." EPTL-SCPA 3rd Report.
- Resources on the NY-PIA
  - Georgiana J. Slade, The Trustee in the New Millennium, NYSBA Trusts and Estates Law Section Newsletter ( Vol. 36, No. 1 Spring 2003).
NY Punitive Damages
- 🔑 Punitive Damages Require a Substantive Cause of Action
NY Real Property
- Real Property in a Decedent's Estate
  - Testate: decedent died with a last will and testament
    - Specific devise
    - Residuary devise
  - Intestate: decedent died without a will
  - Escheat
  - Tenancy by the Entirety
    - James M. Pedowitz, Tenancy by the Entirety in New York, NY Real Property Law Journal Vol. 33 No. 1 (2005).
- Real Property in a Trust
  - Lifetime trust
  - Testamentary Trust
  - Mindy H. Stern, Trust Me: The Dirt on Trust Ownership of Real Estate, NY Real Property Law Journal, Vol. 47 No. 1 (2019).
- Title Insurance
  - Marvin Bagwell, Title Insurance: Co-Insurance v. Re-Insurance, What Is the Difference?, NY Real Property Law Journal, Vol. 46 No. 4 (2019).
- James M. Pedowitz, The STAR Tax Exemption, NY Real Property Law Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1 (1999).
- Marvin N. Bagwell, When Does Coverage Continue Under an Existing Title Insurance Policy? NY Real Property Law Journal, Vol. 28 No. 3 (2000).
- Bernard M. Rifkin, The Demons of Recordation, NY Real Property Law Journal Vol. 29 No. 2 (2002).
- James M. Pedowitz, Conveyancing (Deeds): An Annotated Outline, NY Real Property Law Journal Vol. 29 No. 2 (2002).
- Gerard G. Antetomaso, The History of Title Insurance, NY Real Property Law Journal Vol. 36 No. 3 (2007).
- Title Insurance: Disclosure to and Consent by Client, NY Real Property Law Journal Vol. 37 No. 1 (2009).
- Peter Brogan, Top Ten Reasons Closings Are Adjourned, NY Real Property Law Journal, Vol. 37 No. 4 (2009).
- Francisco Augspach, The Executor and the Real Property, NY Real Property Law Journal Vol. 40 No. 2 (2012).
NY Remainder Beneficiaries
- 🔑 Remainder Beneficiaries of a Trust Have Standing in an Accounting Proceeding
NY Renunciation
- 🖇️ Renunciation of Letters of Administration C.T.A.
- Renunciation of Property Interests
  - EPTL 2-1.11
    - Added L 1977, ch 861, § 3
    - Amended L 1978, ch 60, § 1, effective April 11, 1978
    - Amended L 1978, ch 67, § 45
    - Amended L 1980, ch 417, § 32, effective June 23, 1980
    - Amended L 1980, ch 570, § 1, effective June 26, 1980
      - Bill Jacket - L 1980, ch 570
    - Amended L 1992, ch 595, § 5
    - Amended L 1993, ch 515, § 2, effective Jan 1, 1994
    - Amended L 2003, ch 589, § 1, effective Sept 1, 2003
    - Amended L 2005, ch 325, § 4, effective Jan 1, 2006
    - Amended L 2010, ch 27, § 1, effective Jan 1, 2011
    - Amended L 2011, ch 285, § 1, effective Aug 3, 2011
    - Amended L 2014, ch 315, § 1, effective August 11, 2014
NY Revocable Trust (RLT)
- Funding
  - ➡️ Why You Need to Ensure Your New York Revocable Trust Has Title to Your Assets - Discusses EPTL 7-1.18.
- If the grantor retained the income interest and the right to revoke the trust, then . . .
  - remainder beneficiaries not entitled to notice
    - Matter of Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 176 Misc. 183, 186, affd 263 A.D. 801, affd 288 N.Y. 608: "[A]s they have only a remainder interest in the trust estate they are not entitled to information regarding the disposition of the trust estate or trust income during the existence of the preceding life estate or any right to call upon the trustee for an accounting and hence have no right to file objection thereto."
  - remainder beneficiaries have no standing to bring an accounting proceeding
    - Matter of Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 176 Misc. 183, 186, affd 263 A.D. 801, affd 288 N.Y. 608: "the right of accounting is, by the express terms of the instant trust, limited to the grantor life income beneficiary and that she alone is authorized to file objections to the acts of the trustee performed during her lifetime."
- Terms of Revocable Trust Determine Scope of Authority to Revoke or Amend
  - ➡️ Guardian Cannot Amend Revocable Trust When Capacity Is Required for Amendment
- ➡️ Revocable Trusts are Subject to a Surviving Spouse's Right of Election
NY Right of Election
- ➡️ Revocable Trusts are Subject to a Surviving Spouse's Right of Election
- Exercise of Right of Election
  - 🔑 NY Intestate Estate: Notice of Election (Surviving Spouse)
- Waiver of Right of Election
  - Regina Kiperman, “Waiver of Right of Election” in New York Estate Planning, RK Law, July 11, 2025.
NY Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP)
- 🔑 Even Under Common-Law Rule Against Perpetuities, Trusts Can Last for Over a Century
- RAP has a different starting point in testamentary and lifetime trusts. See 🔑 Differences Between Testamentary Trusts and Inter Vivos Trusts in New York.
NY Safe Deposit Box
- Petition to Search Safe Deposit Box
  - 🔑 Form: Petition to Search Safe Deposit Box
NY SCPA 210 Jurisdictional predicate
- Surrogate’s Court may 🔑 exercise personal jurisdiction over a non-domiciliary under SCPA 210, but 🔑 propoer service is required. • For example, an Order to Attend under SCPA 2103(5) 🔑 must be served with a witness fee.
NY SCPA 2103
- 🔑 Purpose of SCPA 2103 proceedings
- Order to Attend and Be Examined - SCPA 2103(5)
  - 🔑 Must be served with a witness fee.
NY Specific Devise
- 🔑 Title to Specifically Devised Real Property Vests Immediately at Death
- ➡️ Why Executors in New York Should Be Cautious with Specifically Devised Property
NY Sprinkle Trust
- Definition of 🔤 sprinkle trust.
- 🔑 NY: Prospective Sprinklees of Trust Income Have Standing in Accounting Proceeding
NY Standing
- 🔑 Remainder Beneficiaries of a Trust Have Standing in Accounting Proceeding
- 🔑 Remainder Beneficiaries of a Trust Have Standing in a Proceeding to Remove a Trustee
- 🔑 Takers in Default of a Power of Appointment Have Standing in Accounting Proceeding
- 🔑 Prospective Sprinklees of Trust Income Have Standing in Accounting Proceeding
- 🔑 Appointees Under Powers of Appointment That Have Not Yet Been Exercised Have Standing in Accounting Proceeding
NY Staple Affidavit
- 🔑 Sample Staple Affidavit
NY Statutes of Limitations
- 🔑 NY Conflict of Laws: Statutes of Limitations are Procedural
NY Stipulations
- Summary Judgment & Stipulations
  - 🔑 Court Can Grant Summary Judgment on Stipulation Interpretation When Parties’ Intent is Clear
- Setting Aside a Stipulation
  - 🔑 Courts Favor Settlement Stipulations When Parties Have Legal Representation
  - Grounds for Setting Aside a Stipulation
    - 🔑 Fraud
    - Overreaching (Coercion or Duress)
      - 🔑 Stipulations Can Be Set Aside Because of Overreaching
      - 🔑 Prompt Action Required to Repudiate Stipulation Procured by Duress
    - 🔑 Repudiation
    - Lack of Capacity
      - See 🔑 Stipulation With Incompetent Is Voidable Only By the Incompetent
    - Agreement (stipulation of settlement) signed by individual defendant rather than defendants’ counsel inadmissible and unenforceable.— Silverline Servs., Inc. v Mob Transp., LLC, 86 Misc 3d 1225(A), 2025 NY Slip Op 51026(U).
  - Voiding a Stipulation
    - 🔑 Stipulation With Incompetent Is Voidable Only By the Incompetent
- Stipulation of Settlement
  - Agreement signed by individual defendant rather than defendants’ counsel inadmissible and unenforceable. Silverline Servs., Inc. v Mob Transp., LLC, 86 Misc 3d 1225(A), 2025 NY Slip Op 51026(U).
NY Summary Judgment
- Proponent must make a 🔑 prima facie showing of entitlement.
- Then, the 🔑 burden shifts to the opposing party.
- 🔑 Standard for Deciding a Summary Judgment in a NY Probate Proceeding
- 🔑 Court Can Grant Summary Judgment on Stipulation Interpretation When Parties’ Intent is Clear
- 🔑 Fiduciaries Denied Summary Judgment for Use and Occupancy Fees Due to Lack of Proof and Uninhabitability Claims
NY Supplemental and Special Needs Trust (SNTs) 🔗
- Purpose: SNTs provide ﬁnancial support beyond what is covered by government beneﬁts, addressing needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare.
- Discretionary Nature: The trustee has full discretion over distributions, ensuring that trust assets do not directly replace government assistance.
- ➡️ EPTL 7-1.12: Supplemental Needs Trusts in New York
- ➡️ Understanding EPTL 7-1.12: Third-Party and Self-Settled Supplemental Needs Trusts in New York
- ➡️ How SNT Distributions Affect Government Benefit Eligibility
- 🔑 When Should a Supplemental Needs Trust Allow Basic Needs Distributions? Understanding EPTL 7-1.12
- Terminology: The terms "supplemental needs" and "special needs" are interchangeable.
  - "This article refers to 'supplemental needs trusts' or 'special needs trusts' interchangeably. Both terms broadly describe a trust designed to benefit a person with a disability (the beneficiary) without jeopardizing the beneficiary’s eligibility for public benefits." Mark Brody & Sheila Shea, Birth of a Third Party Agency Trust, NYSBA Elder and Special Needs Law Journal, Fall 2019.
- First Party SNT
  - The beneficiary's assets are used to fund the trust.
  - Must be irrevocable.
  - Purpose: To allow the beneficiary to qualify for government benefits.
  - A governental payback provision is required.
  - Can have a Medicare Set-Aside subtrust
    - This subtrust " when the benefciary is awarded a personal injury settlement or a Workers Compensation award. The amount of the award that should be set aside for future medical expenses related to the injury are funded into the MSA subtrust to be preserved for such use." Ability to Draft an Annotated Self-Settled Special Needs Trust Added to Elder Docx, WealthCounsel, Oct. 6, 2021.
  - Resources on First Party SNTs
    - Guidelines for Trustees of First Party Supplemental Needs Trusts, NYSBA Special Needs Planning Committee.
- Third Party SNT
  - A governmental payback provision not required.
  - A third party SNT can be created as a standalone document or as one part of a larger estate planning document (such as a will or trust).
- Resources on SNTs in New York
  - Trustee Guidelines for Administration of a Supplemental Needs Trust, NYC Department of Social Services.
  - John Lensky Robert, Drafting Supplemental and Special Needs Trusts, NYSBA, Fall 2013.
NY Surrogate's Court
- 🔑 NY: Surrogate's Court Cannot Interpret Will Before Probate
- 🔑 NY Surrogate's Court Has Broad Equitable Powers
- New York County
NY Surrogate's Court Procedure Act (SCPA)
- ➡️ The Flexibility of New York Surrogate’s Court Jurisdiction Under SCPA § 202
- ➡️ SCPA 207: Lifetime Trusts; Jurisdiction and Venue
- ➡️ SCPA 304: Contents of Petition
- ➡️ SCPA 711: Suspension, Modification or Revocation of Letters or Removal for Disqualification or Misconduct
- SCPA 1403: Persons to be served; content of process
  - SCPA 1403(1)(d): "Any person designated as beneficiary, executor, trustee or guardian in any other will of the same testator filed in the surrogate's court of the county in which the propounded will is filed whose rights or interests are adversely affected by the instrument offered for probate."
    - SCPA 1403(1)(d) can come up when a lawyer 🔑 files a will in Surrogate's Court because a nominated executor is unresponsive.
- ➡️ SCPA 1404: Witnesses to Be Examined; Proof Required]
- SCPA 1418: Letters of administration with will annexed; when and to whom granted
  - 🔑 NY: Sample Renunciation of Letters of Administration C.T.A. and Waiver of Process (SCAP 1418)
- ➡️ SCPA 1420: Proceeding for construction of will; effect of decree
  - 🔑 Surrogate's Court Cannot Interpret Will Before Probate
- ➡️ NY SCPA 1805 Determination of issues arising between representative and the estate; suspension of statute of limitations in certain cases
- 🔑 NY SCPA 2102 Proceedings For Relief Against a Fiduciary
- ➡️ SCPA 2307 Commissions of Fiduciaries Other Than Trustees
- Article 25 Records and Recording
  - 🔑 SCPA 2508: Filing of will of decedent
NY Tax Law (Statutes)
- TL § 954 Resident's New York Gross Estate
  - Text of ➡️ Tax Law § 954
  - ➡️ NY Estate Tax: Why Clawed-Back Gifts Don’t Get a Basis Step-Up
NY Tenants by the Entirety
- Tompkins Community Hosp. v. Tomassini, 157 Misc.2d 42 (N.Y. Sur. Ct., Tompkins Co. 1993): "Unlike the joint tenancy, both members of the tenancy by the entireties are deemed co-owners of every atom of the property during their joint lives. The removal of the spouse, by death, leaves the survivor with the same ownership interest in the same atoms (Kozyra v Goldstein, 146 Misc 2d 25; Matter of Dickie, 55 Misc 2d 976). Hence, no transfer, actual or conceptual, occurs at death."
NY Tenants in Common
- "[A]s a general proposition, absent an agreement to the contrary, partners, joint venturers, and tenants in common look solely to the appreciation of their interest in the endeavor for their financial rewards, and are not entitled to separate compensation for services rendered (see, Levy v Leavitt, 257 N.Y. 461, 467; Myers v Bolton, 157 N.Y. 393, 399)." Birnbaum v. Birnbaum, 73 NY 2d 461 (1989).
NY Testamentary Trust
- 🔑 Sample Retainer for Administration of a Testamentary Trust
NY Title Insurance
- Endorsements
  - ALTA v. TIRSA
    - ALTA = American Land Title Association, which means it is used nationally
    - TIRSA = specific to New York and not national
NY Transfer on Death Deed
- Limitations
- Ancillary transfer documents (like TP-584, RP-5217, and IT-2663) are not required when recording NY TOD deeds, Except in Erie County and Niagara County. See ➡️ No Ancillary Transfer Documents Required for Recording (Except in Erie County & Niagara County).
NY Trust Protector
- Duty: What is the duty of impartiality?
  - Definition of 🔗duty of impartiality.
  - Proposed New York Trust Code
    - 🔑 TELS Recommendations on Proposed Section 7-A-8.3
NY Trustee's Duty to Determine Whether to Retain or Dispose of Initial Assets
- NY EPTL 11-2.3(b)(3)(D): "The prudent investor standard requires a trustee: . . . (D) within a reasonable time after the creation of the fiduciary relationship, to determine whether to retain or dispose of initial assets."
NY Trustees
- Duties
  - 🖇️ Delegation by Trustees
- Commissions
  - SCPA § 2309 governs commissions of trustees for trusts (lifetime and testamentary) created after August 31, 1956.
NY Trusts
- 🖇️ Trustees in New York
- NY EPTL 11-1.1(a)(2) defines a trust for purposes of NY EPTL 11-1.1 (Fiduciary powers): "(a) As used in this section, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, . . . (2) [T]he term 'trust' means any express trust of property, created by a will, deed or other instrument, whereby there is imposed upon a trustee the duty to administer property for the benefit of a named or otherwise described income or principal beneficiary, or both. A trust shall not include trusts for the benefit of creditors, resulting or constructive trusts, business trusts where certificates of beneficial interest are issued to the beneficiary, investment trusts, voting trusts, security instruments such as deeds of trust and mortgages, trusts created by the judgment or decree of a court, liquidation or reorganization trusts, trusts for the sole purpose of paying dividends, interest, interest coupons, salaries, wages, pensions or profits, instruments wherein persons are mere nominees for others, or trusts created in deposits in any banking institution or savings and loan institution."
- 🔑 Differences Between Testamentary Trusts and Inter Vivos Trusts in New York
- Validity
  - Undue Influence
    - Trust Amendments Voided Based on Undue Inﬂuence.— Matter of Kosmo Family Trust, 86 Misc 3d 365.
NY Unconscionability
- Procedural
- Substantive
NY Undue Influence
- 🔑 Generally, Burden of Proving Undue Influence Lies with Party Asserting Its Existence
- 🔑 When Confidential Relationship Exists, Burden Shifts to Beneficiary to Prove No Undue Influence
NY Unitrust - EPTL 11-2.4
- Effective January 1, 2002, a trustee-beneficiary can make a unitrust election under EPTL 11-2.4. See Matter of Heller, 849 NE 2d 262 (NY Court of Appeals 2006); Matter of Sackler, 2016 NY Slip Op 32013(U) (Sur. Ct., Nassau County 2016).
- A unitrust election "permits trustees to elect a regime in which income is calculated according to a fixed formula and based on the net fair market value of the trust assets." Matter of Heller, 849 NE 2d 262 (NY Court of Appeals 2006).
- Proceeding to Apply Unitrust
NY Use and Occupancy in Surrogate's Court
- 🔑 Fiduciaries Denied Summary Judgment for Use and Occupancy Fees Due to Lack of Proof and Uninhabitability Claims
NY WebSurrogate
- Link to WebSurrogate: https://websurrogates.nycourts.gov/Home/Welcome/
- ➡️ NY WebSurrogate: Protecting Privacy or Limiting Access?
NY Wills
- Drafting: Clauses
  - Power to Continue Decedent's Businesses
    - An executor given a discretionary power to continue the decedent's business cannot use general assets of the estate to continue various businesses of the testator: "such authorization merely grants to the executor the power to conduct the various businesses with the funds already invested in them at the time of the testator's death, and to subject only these funds, and not the general assets of the estate, to the hazards of the businesses." Estate of Muller, 24 N.Y.2d 336 (1969).
  - 🔑 Sample Clause to Disinherit a Distributee in a NY Will
- Formation
  - Testamentary Capacity
  - Execution of a Will
    - Formalities: EPTL 3-2.1
  - Application to Dispense with Testimony of Attesting Witness
    - 🔑 Sample NY Forms: Applications to Dispense with Testimony of Attesting Witnesses
  - Self-proving affidavit
    - ➡️ Proving a Will Without a Self-Proving Affidavit: Lessons from Matter of Lobuono
  - See 🔗 Presumption of Due Execution
- After Execution
  - Staples
    - ➡️ Do Not Remove Staples From a Will. (If staples were removed after execution, see 🔑 Sample Staple Affidavit.)
  - 🔑 Why Every NY Will Execution Deserves a Follow-Up Letter (Sample Form)
  - Safekeeping a Will
    - Lawyer Can Safe-keep a Will
      - If a nominated executor stops responding before the probate petition, then a lawyer who is safekeeping their client's will can 🔑 file the will in court.
- Revocation
  - By tearing
    - done by the testator
    - done by another person, if done in the testator's presence, by the testator's direction and consent, and proved by at least 2 witnesses
- Compel Production and Filing of Will
  - 🔑 NY: Sample Petition to Compel the Production and Filing of a Will
- Probate
  - Construction of a Will 🔗
    - SCPA 1420 Proceeding for construction of will; effect of decree
    - CPLR 4503(b): "Wills and revocable trusts. In any action involving the probate, validity or construction of a will or, after the grantor's death, a revocable trust, an attorney or his employee shall be required to disclose information as to the preparation, execution or revocation of any will, revocable trust, or other relevant instrument, but he shall not be allowed to disclose any communication privileged under subdivision (a) which would tend to disgrace the memory of the decedent."
  - 🔑 SCPA 2508: Filing of will of decedent
- Wills and Beneficiary Designations
  - A will can revoke or amend a beneficiary designation. ➡️ EPTL 13-4.6(b).
  - 🔑 Generally, a will cannot change the beneficiaries of a life insurance policy
- Wills and Estate Planning
  - ➡️ "I Love You" Will Might Not Show Love to Surviving Spouse
  - ➡️ Share the Location of Your Will, or It Will Be Worthless
NY Wrongful Death
- NY EPTL Part 4: Rights of Members of Family Resulting From Wrongful Act, Neglect or Default Causing Death of Decedent
- Authority to litigate
  - Fiduciaries determine whether to commence a wrongful death proceeding, not the court. See ➡️ Driving the Estate: The Fiduciary’s Journey in Matter of Pugach.
- Allocating a lump sum between wrongful death and pain and suffering.
  - The issue typically comes up in settlements of claims.
  - See 37 N.Y. Jur. 2d Death § 425.
  - 🔑 NY: Why Allocation and Distribution Are So Often Confused in New York Wrongful Death Cases
Older Americans Act
- NYSOFA marks 60 years of the Older Americans Act, FingerLakes1.com, July 14, 2025.
One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)
- H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- 🗓️ Timeline
  - 2025-07-01 Senate passed the bill by a 51-50 vote with Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.
  - 2025-07-03 House passed the bill in a 218 to 214 vote.
    - 2 GOP lawmakers voted 'No' - Massie KY and Fitzpatrick PA.
    - No Democrats voted for the bill.
    - Jacob Bogage & Marianna Sotomayor, House passes tax and immigration bill, sending it to Trump’s desk, Washington Post, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link): "The House’s approval sends the bill to Trump’s desk to be signed into law in time to beat a self-imposed July 4 deadline."
    - Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Mike Lillis & Mychael Schnell, Republicans pass Trump’s 'big, beautiful bill' after extraordinary week: 5 takeaways, The Hill, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link): Explains how Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) moved the bill forward.
  - 2025-07-04 Trump signs bill into law.
    - Zac Anderson, Trump signs megabill that slashes taxes, Medicaid while boosting national debt, USA Today, July 4, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Aaron Zitner, Lindsay Wise & Natalie Andrews, Now Republicans Have to Sell Trump’s Megabill to Voters, WSJ, July 4, 2025r (Apple News link).
- Analysis
  - Defense
    - Funds defense programs.
  - Education
    - Matt Barnum, Trump’s $7 Billion Education Funding Freeze Blindsides Schools, WSJ, July 4, 2025 (Apple News link.
  - Employee Benefits
  - Health Care
    - Medicaid: New Work Requirements
      - "It adds new work requirements for recipients of Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income people, and limits states’ ability to tax health care providers to help fund the program. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which provides nonpartisan analysis of US fiscal policy, estimated that 11.8 million Americans could lose their health insurance by 2034 due to the changes to Medicaid in the bill." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - "Moderate Republicans were among those concerned about the Senate bill shifting even more of the Medicaid cost-burden onto states that expanded their health benefit populations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), while conservatives were irate that those cuts did not go far enough to mitigate what they saw as excessive spending in other parts of the bill." Elizabeth Elkind, Congress sending Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' to his desk after dramatic all-night House vote, Fox News, July 3, 2025.
      - "Republicans have said their tax provisions are targeted toward the working and middle classes – citing measures eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages – while arguing they were reforming federal welfare programs to work better for those who truly need them." Elizabeth Elkind, Congress sending Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' to his desk after dramatic all-night House vote, Fox News, July 3, 2025.
      - Robert King & Kelly Hooper, Three reasons why Republicans cut Medicaid, Politico, July 4, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
      - Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link): "The legislation also creates new work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, which provides food aid to low-income households. States will also be required to pay a larger share of costs for the program. A partial waiver for Alaska and Hawaii was included by the Senate to win the support of Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska."
    - Phil Galewitz, Julie Appleby, Renuka Rayasam & Bernard J. Wolfson, Republican Megabill Will Mean Higher Health Costs for Many Americans, KFF Health News, July 2, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Immigration
    - funds border program
    - Daniel Nichanian, How the GOP Megabill Would Turbocharge Local Immigration Enforcement, Bolts, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Incarcerated Poeple
    - Katie Rose Quandt, A Surprise Target of Trump’s Cutbacks Is Devastating One Specific Population, Slate, July 5, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - National Debt
    - Will increase federal deficit.
      - "The CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the measure will increase federal deficits by $3.4 trillion over a decade, relative to a current law baseline. Under the current policy baseline requested by Senate Republicans, the bill was scored as saving $400 billion over a decade. This estimate doesn’t account for the economic impacts of the bill. // The Trump administration says economic growth from tax cuts and deregulation, as well as revenue from tariffs, will help offset the cost of the bill. The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers calculates the bill’s tax cuts will boost inflation-adjusted gross domestic product by 4.2% to 5.2% over four years." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - "Most economists project that Trump’s tariffs will produce significantly less than the estimated cost to the government in lost revenue over a decade from the tax and spending bill. They anticipate that consumers will balk at higher prices and imports will fall, resulting in the US collecting less tariff revenue." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - "[W]ould increase the national debt by close to $4 trillion over the next decade" Jacob Bogage & Marianna Sotomayor, House passes tax and immigration bill, sending it to Trump’s desk, Washington Post, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - "It raises the country’s borrowing cap by $5 trillion, staving off a debt default that the Treasury was weeks away from breaching." Jacob Bogage & Marianna Sotomayor, House passes tax and immigration bill, sending it to Trump’s desk, Washington Post, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Uses non-traditional accounting formula
      - See Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Taxes
    - § 199A Deduction
      - Permanent § 199A 20% pass-through deduction for qualified business income.
      - "§ 199A will remain the same with a 20% deduction." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - 2017 TCJA Tax Cuts: Extended
      - Makes lower rates for all brackets permanent.
      - "The bill permanently extends most of the individual and estate provisions of Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which were largely set to expire at the end of 2025." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - "The bill would permanently extend the income tax brackets lowered by Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) . . . ." Elizabeth Elkind, Congress sending Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' to his desk after dramatic all-night House vote, Fox News, July 3, 2025.
    - Clean Energy Credits: Cut
      - "The bill cuts more than $1 trillion in federal spending on safety-net programs and clean energy credits." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Charitable Contributions: Floor and Cap Imposed
      - "For charitable contributions, the law will now require taxpayers to donate 0.5% of their adjusted gross income to nonprofits—$2,500 of a $500,000 income, for example—before claiming a deduction. The law also caps the value of itemized deductions to 35% for those in the top tax bracket, down from 37%. These adjustments could mean fewer dollars are donated to charity beginning in 2026, when the provisions go into effect. // Steve Baxley, head of tax and financial planning at Bessemer Trust, is advising clients to front-load their deductions to this year through funding a donor-advised fund, or DAF. Any amount transferred into a DAF this year can be deducted as a charitable contribution with no restrictions. Donors can then distribute the DAF dollars to charity over subsequent years." Abby Schultz, How the New Tax Law Benefits the Wealthy, Barron's, July 16, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Electric Vehicle Credit: Repealed
      - "The bill repeals the tax credits for electric vehicles and climate projects that were enacted in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden, and adds a new tax break on auto loan interest for US-built vehicles." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - Nicolás Rivero, How to use tax credits for EVs and home projects before they expire, Washington Post, July 4, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - High Income Taxpayers
      - Stephen R. Akers & Stephen A. Baxley, 2025 Tax Law Changes:Key Takeaways for High-Income Taxpayers, Bessemer Trust, July 7, 2025.
    - Itemized Deductions: Restrictions Added
      - "There are also parts of the law that don’t benefit the very rich. These include provisions placing restrictions on itemized deductions, which wealthier taxpayers often do to deduct medical expenses, mortgage interest, and charitable contributions." Abby Schultz, How the New Tax Law Benefits the Wealthy, Barron's, July 16, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Overtime Pay
      - "The bill also enacts new tax benefits Trump promised during his 2024 election campaign, including exempting taxes on tips and overtime pay, though only through 2028." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Qualified Business Income (QBI)
      - "[W]ould make the lucrative qualified business income (QBI) deduction even more generous." Ben Steverman, Trump's Tax Bill Has Nasty Surprise In SALT Fine Print For Some Rich Americans, FA Mag, May 30, 2025.
    - Private Universities: Tax on Net Investment Income Increased
      - "Private universities with large endowments per student such as Harvard will face an 8% tax on net investment income, up from the current rate of 1.4%." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - "Revenge Tax" (Proposed IRC § 899): Not Enacted
      - "The One Big Beautiful Bill Act formerly proposed adding section 899 to the Internal Revenue Code. Though commonly labeled the 'revenge tax', the proposal can be seen as a rare—and restrained—exercise of U.S. market power. It is used primarily to counter two foreign taxes that also rely on market power, thus embodying a stance that just as the U.S. has refrained from using its market power, so should other nations. This is the clearest in the response to digital services taxes: proposed section 899 is likely a better instrument for responding to DSTs than Section 301 tariffs. In the case of the UTPR under the OECD’s global minimum tax, proposed section 899 also counters a type of synthetic hegemon, exposing assumptions in UTPR design that have previously drawn little comment." Wei Cui, The Logic of the Revenge Tax, 188 Tax Notes Federal 37-46, July 7, 2025 (SSRN link).
    - SALT Deduction
      - Temorarily increases the SALT deduction cap to $40,000. (2025-2029); phases out above $500,000 income; reverts to $10,000.
      - SALT Torpedo
        
        "Similar to the more well known 'Social Security Torpedo', the SALT Torpedo can create an artificially high tax rate (of around 45%!) by effectively causing taxable income to rise by more than $1 for every new $1 of income actually received. // Really makes the $500k - $600k jump in income very expensive!" explains Jeffrey Levine (LinkedIn post July 2025).
      - "House Republicans from New York and other high-tax states negotiated an increase in the cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes — the SALT deduction, for short — to $40,000 from $10,000, with a phase-out of the amount allowed for those making more than $500,000 per year. After five years, the limit goes back to $10,000." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - The House Republicans’ tax bill, which aims to provide tax cuts for wealthy business owners, excludes a subset of rich Americans from these benefits. The bill includes provisions that penalize "specified service" businesses, such as entertainment, healthcare, and legal firms, by limiting their ability to deduct state and local taxes (SALT) and excluding them from a more generous qualified business income (QBI) deduction. This disparity could lead to higher taxes for thousands of business owners and potentially spur further migration from high-tax states to lower-tax locales. Ben Steverman, Trump's Tax Bill Has Nasty Surprise In SALT Fine Print For Some Rich Americans, FA Mag, May 30, 2025.
    - Standard deduction
      - Permanently increases in standard deduction: includes both TCJA and new $750/$1,500 boost.
    - Tax Basis: Adjusted (Stepped-Up or Stepped Down) Basis
      - "The bill does not change the § 1014 basis adjustment." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - Tips: Limited Exemption from Taxes
      - Limits
        
        Must be in qualifying service job
        
        "[W]orkers won’t be able to benefit if federal officials say their type of service job doesn’t qualify. . . . The law orders the Treasury secretary to publish a list of typical tip-earning jobs that qualify for the deduction, so it is unclear now exactly who will benefit. Tax experts said barbers, restaurant servers and other longtime service workers are almost certain to qualify, but it is unclear whether it will extend to other types of jobs such as online creators, who are sometimes tipped for their work." Josie Reich & Richard Rubin, Trump Promised ‘No Tax on Tips.’ Then Came the Fine Print., WSJ, July 6, 2025 (Apple News link).
        
        Only first $25,000 exempt
        
        "Among the particulars restricting the reach of the measure: Only the first $25,000 in tips are free from income taxes. . . . [W]orkers who do pay federal income taxes will be able to deduct up to $25,000 for tips. For someone in the 12% tax bracket making that much in tips, the change would deliver up to $3,000 in savings." Josie Reich & Richard Rubin, Trump Promised ‘No Tax on Tips.’ Then Came the Fine Print., WSJ, July 6, 2025 (Apple News link).
        
        Phases out for higher earners
        
        "The deduction would start phasing out once an individual’s income reaches $150,000, or $300,000 on a joint return for people who are married." Josie Reich & Richard Rubin, Trump Promised ‘No Tax on Tips.’ Then Came the Fine Print., WSJ, July 6, 2025 (Apple News link).
        
        Only through 2028
        
        "The bill also enacts new tax benefits Trump promised during his 2024 election campaign, including exempting taxes on tips and overtime pay, though only through 2028." Jarrell Dillard & Mark Niquette, A Guide to Trump’s Tax and Policy Bill That Congress Passed, Bloomberg, July 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
        
        Still subject to payroll taxes
        
        "Tipped workers will still face the 7.65% combined payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare." Josie Reich & Richard Rubin, Trump Promised ‘No Tax on Tips.’ Then Came the Fine Print., WSJ, July 6, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - A 2024 campaign promise by Trump
        
        "'No tax on tips' started as a campaign promise by President Trump during a 2024 stop in Nevada, the state with the highest concentration of service workers who rely on tips. It is now a key element of the tax-and-spending megabill that Trump signed into law Friday." Josie Reich & Richard Rubin, Trump Promised ‘No Tax on Tips.’ Then Came the Fine Print., WSJ, July 6, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - A major talking point for Republicans
        
        "Even though it is one of the smaller pieces of the law in terms of dollars—accounting for $32 billion out of $4.5 trillion in tax cuts—it is one of Republicans’ top talking points." Josie Reich & Richard Rubin, Trump Promised ‘No Tax on Tips.’ Then Came the Fine Print., WSJ, July 6, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Wealth Transfer Taxes
      - Lifetime estate and gift tax exemption: increase made permanent
        
        Makes permanent the increase in estate and gift tax exemption to $15M/$30M, indexed for inflation. This presents a sunset, which eliminates the worry of a possible clawback.
        
        "[T]here will be a $15 million estate/gift exemption per person and a $15 million GST exemption per person." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
        
        "The change in the estate and gift tax is considered 'permanent' because there is no sunset date built into the law as before. But, that doesn’t mean the provision can’t be changed by a new Congress . . . ." Abby Schultz, How the New Tax Law Benefits the Wealthy, Barron's, July 16, 2025 (Apple News link).
        
        Kevin Pollock, Permanent Federal Estate Tax Exemption Under New law, The Pollock Firm LLC, July 9, 2025.
        
        Foley & Lardner LLP, One Big Beautiful Bill Act Permanently Increases the Lifetime Estate, Gift and GST Tax Exclusion, JD Supra, July 10, 2025.
        
        Foster Garvey PC, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R. 1 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): Part II – Estate and Gift Tax, JD Supra, July 11, 2025.
        
        Frost Brown Todd, One Big Beautiful Bill Act Enacts a Permanent Increase in the Estate and Gift Tax Lifetime Exclusion Amount for 2025 and Later Years, JD Supra, July 11, 2025.
      - Annual gift tax exclusion: not changed
        
        "OBBBA did not change the gift tax laws which allow people to give away $19,000 each year to any other person as an 'annual exclusion' gift. The $19,000 amount increases in $1,000 increments every few years." Ronald Limpan, Estate tax exemption climbs to $15M per person with new legislation, Huston Chronicle, July 15, 2025 (Apple News link).
- Impact on estate planning
  - Closely Held Businesses
    - Louis Vlahos, Closely Held Businesses and Their Owners Ask: What’s Big and Beautiful in the Recent Tax Law?, LexBlog, July 11, 2025.
  - Estate tax planning: reduced need
    - The bill reduces the need for estate tax planning because of the $15 million estate/gift exemption per person.
  - Family Offices
    - McDermott Will & Emery, Key One Big Beautiful Bill Act implications for family offices and high-net-worth investors, JD Supra, July 14, 2025.
  - Income tax planning
    - AMT will affect more taxpayers
      - Karen Hube, The Dreaded AMT Will Hit More Taxpayers Under the New Tax Law, Barron's, July 4, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Increased need for income tax planning
      - "[T]he bill is a watershed moment for estate tax planning that will result in a renaissance of income tax planning with nongrantor trusts. While estate tax planning will be reduced because of a $15,000,000 exemption, there will be a renewed focus on income tax planning and nongrantor trusts will be the cornerstone of that planning." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - "[I]ncome tax rates will remain the same." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - § 199A deduction remains the same
      - "§ 199A will remain the same with a 20% deduction." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - SALT deduction
      - "[T]here will be a SALT deduction available to both individuals at a $40,000 level with a phaseout when income exceeds $500,000. The problem with this phaseout is from $500,000 and $600,000 of income, the deduction falls from $40,000 back to $10,000. The same SALT deduction will be available for non-grantor trusts. This will impact how trusts are drafted when there are multiple beneficiaries. For example, if you were drafting a trust for four grandchildren, you might be inclined not to draft one trust, but to draft four trusts. By drafting separate trusts you now have $160,000 of SALT deduction and may avoid the phaseout if income otherwise would have been over $500,000." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
  - Non-grantor trusts: drafting might need to maximize SALT deduction.
    - "the bill is a watershed moment for estate tax planning that will result in a renaissance of income tax planning with nongrantor trusts. While estate tax planning will be reduced because of a $15,000,000 exemption, there will be a renewed focus on income tax planning and nongrantor trusts will be the cornerstone of that planning." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - "[T]here will be a SALT deduction available to both individuals at a $40,000 level with a phaseout when income exceeds $500,000. The problem with this phaseout is from $500,000 and $600,000 of income, the deduction falls from $40,000 back to $10,000. The same SALT deduction will be available for non-grantor trusts. This will impact how trusts are drafted when there are multiple beneficiaries. For example, if you were drafting a trust for four grandchildren, you might be inclined not to draft one trust, but to draft four trusts. By drafting separate trusts you now have $160,000 of SALT deduction and may avoid the phaseout if income otherwise would have been over $500,000." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
  - Opportunity zones
    - "[O]pportunity zones will return in 2027 and provide a significant tax advantage investment strategy with deferral and tax-free gains. The issue here is that in 2026 opportunity zones will have only marginal utility because the deferral will end December 31, 2026. The interesting issue here is how to bridge gains from 2026 to 2027. The areas being discussed are the use of installment sales, hedging with options until January of 2027, and the use of a charitable remainder trust to bridge income from 2026 into 2027." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
  - Roth conversions
    - "Roth conversions will remain white hot." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - "I guess the people under $500k will really have to pay attention to the numbers when it comes to Roth conversions given the potential loss of the extra SALT deduction." Jennifer Belmont Jennings, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - Bob Keebler & Jim Magner, A Conversation About the Best Planning Ideas in the OBBB, Steve Leimberg's Estate Planning Email Newsletter - Archive Message #3223, July 7, 2025 (available via Robert Keebler's 7/8/2025 LinkedIn post).
  - Qualified small business corporations: their use will need a fresh look.
    - "[A]dditionally §1202 has been liberalized by this bill. This will require a fresh look at the use of qualified small business corporations. This is important because now we can exempt a portion of the gain after three years and four years, not just after five years. The amount of the QSBS gain you can protect is going to increase to $15 million." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - "[I]n time virtually every CPA, when posed with the question, 'should I be an s-corporation, LLC or C-corporation,' is going to have to incorporate this expanded §1202 language into their analysis. C-corps may be in vogue if the intention is to create and sell a business." Robert Keebler, LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
    - "QSBS is in vogue!" Ryan D., LinkedIn Post, July 3, 2025.
Pension Fund
- Definition of 🔤 pension fund.
Power of Attorney
- 🖇️ New York Power of Attorney
Power to Remove and Replace Trustees 🔗
- Retained Power to Remove and Replace Trustees
  - Sample Clause
  - Income Tax Consequences
  - Estate Tax Consequences
  - Gift Tax Consequences
- Power to Remove and Replace Trustees Given to Trust Protectors
  - Sample Clause
  - Income Tax Consequences
  - Estate Tax Consequences
  - Gift Tax Consequences
- Removal and Replacement of Trustees By a Court
Powers of Appointment
- 🔗 NY Powers of Appointment
Practice Management
- Marketing
  - Advertising
  - Brand
    - Professional Identity: E. Scott Fruehwald, Developing Your Professional Identity: Creating Your Inner Lawyer: (Chapter Three) The Attorney-Client Relationship (November 8, 2015) (SSRN link).
    - Personal Brand: Personal branding is a powerful business development tool that helps professionals stay visible, build trust, and attract the right opportunities. It involves shaping your professional reputation through consistent messaging, content creation, and strategic interactions, particularly on platforms like LinkedIn. A strong personal brand clarifies your expertise, makes you more referable, and helps you attract ideal clients and career opportunities. Stefanie M. Marrone, How Building a Personal Brand Can Help You Grow Your Business, LexBlog, July 18, 2025.
  - Website
    - Field(s) of practice
      - Don't use "expert"
    - Testimonials by clients (client reviews)
- Networking
  - Relevance Over Persistence: Staying in touch with clients, referral partners, and leads is about relevance, not persistence. Add value before asking for anything, match the frequency of communication to the relationship, and keep messages short and simple. Personalization and consistency are key to building familiarity and trust. John Hinson, How to Stay in Touch Without Annoying People, LexBlog, July 17, 2025.
- Productivity
  - Dictation
    - Apple built-in tools
      - Keyboard icon (or dictation button on a Mac)
      - Voice control
      - Voice Memos app
    - Otter.ai
      - ➡️ Leveraging Otter.ai in Legal Practice
  - Managing information
    - ➡️ After Pocket: What Survives When Our Apps Die
  - Note taking
    - Second brain
      - Challenges
        
        Bouncing between apps
      - Tools
        
        Apple Notes
        
        Evernote
        
        Obsidian
        
        One Note
  - Projects
    - "[I]mportant work is project work. // Projects have component tasks associated with them, but they all contribute to something bigger, something that feels unlimited. . . . Projects seek to do something that might feel insurmountable, and projects often have competition. If you finish some tasks with time to spare, put that productivity to work doing something else that serves the customer. If you don’t, we might not get another chance, because someone else will." Seth Godin, Tasks and projects, Seth's Blog, July 18, 2025.
Privacy
- Healthcare Information
  - Health care worker gets 2 years for accessing Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s medical records, AP, Nov. 7, 2024. "Trent Russell, 34, of Bellevue, Nebraska, . . . worked at the time as a transplant coordinator for the Washington Regional Transplant Community and had access to hospital records all over the region . . . ." He was charged and "convicted earlier this year of illegally accessing health care records and destroying or altering records at a jury trial." He was charged "with publishing that information on the internet in 2019," but a jury acquitted him on this count. "[A]t one point [he] suggest[ed] that perhaps his cat walked across the keyboard in a way that mistakenly called up Ginsburg’s data. . . . [U.S. District Judge Michael] Nachmanoff, in issuing his sentence, said he took into account the fact that Russell has a sick step parent who might need care. The judge noted 'with some irony' that the details of the stepparent’s health problems are under seal.
Private Placement Life Insurance
- Private Placement Life Insurance: A Tax Shelter for the Ultra-Wealthy Masquerading an Insurance, Senate Finance Committee, Feb. 21, 2024.
- Hayley Cuccinello, How the rich use insurance to invest in private credit without steep tax bills, CNBC, March 25, 2025 (Apple News link).
Prudent Investor Rule
- Prudent-investor principles are articulated in Restatement Third of Trusts. They were first articulated in 1992 when the Restatement Third Trusts: Prudent Investor Rule was originally published, and they were articulated again in 2007 when the 1992 Prudent Investor Rule was republished as Volume 3 of Restatement Third Trusts.
- The prudent investor rule has been called "[t]he most challenging part of the . . . subject" of trust administration. Foreword in Restatement 3d Trusts vol.2.
- "[T]he Prudent Investor Rule [is] a rationalization of a trustee's authority to maximize the economic value of the trust estate." Lance Liebman in Foreword to Restatement 3d Trusts, vol.3.
- Restatement (Third) of Trusts § 227: "The trustee is under a duty to the beneficiaries to invest and manage the funds of the trust as a prudent investor would, in light of the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other circumstances of the trust."
Prudent Investor Standard
- What is it?
  - The standard is a "modest reformulation of the Harvard College dictum and the basic rule of prior Restatements [that] seeks to modernize trust investment law and to restore the generality and flexibility of the original doctrine." Restatement 3d Trusts: PIR.
- New York: See 🖇️ NY Prudent Investor Act.
Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)
- A QCD is for individuals who are 70½ or older.
- "after the age of 70½, an IRA . . . is the best asset to use for all of your charitable gifts. Don’t make gifts with cash, stock. Make your gifts from your IRA." Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) from IRAs, ACTEC Trust and Estate Talk, April 29, 2025.
- The donor has to have a letter from the charity that the donor received no goods or services in exchange for the gift.
Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF)
- James Duffy, Did You Know That You Can Defer Gain on the Sale of Your Qualified Opportunity Fund Investment by Reinvesting in Another QOF?, LexBlog, July 16, 2025.
Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT)
- Anthony J. Enea & Michael P. Enea, What Is a QPRT and How Can I Utilize It to My Advantage?, NY Real Property L.J., Vol. 51 No. 1 (2023)
Real Property
- 🔑 Real Property in Irrevocable Trust: Beneficiaries Don’t Own the Real Property
- 🔑 IRC § 199A Rental Real Estate Safe Harbor Statement—Sample
Redistribution of Wealth
- Alex Raskolnikov, A New View of Formal Equality and a Case for Predistribution, Journal of Legal Analysis, forthcoming, Columbia Public Law Research Paper Forthcoming (SSRN link, Aug. 3, 2025).
Research
- Digital Libraries
- NY Appeals (Court of Appeals and Appellate Divisions)
  - Search Slip Decisions
  - NY Appellate Divsion Third Department
    - Oral Argument Archives - You need to provide the case number.
    - Motions: Browse Motions
- NY Fair Hearing Decisions by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance – "[Y]ou can search all of the Fair Hearing decisions issued by the Office of Administrative Hearings since November 1, 2010."
- NY Legislative History
  - At New York Public Library
  - Bill, Veto and Recall Jackets
- NY State Library: A-Z Databases
- NY Surrogate's Court Records: 🖇️ WebSurrogate
Residuary Devise
Retained Limited Power of Appointment
- A trust grantor can reserve a limited power to change trust beneficiaries.
- Federal Estate Tax: The property is included in the decedent's gross estate because the grantor retained "the right, either alone or in conjunction with any person, to designate the persons who shall possess or enjoy the property or the income therefrom." IRC § 2036(a)(1).
Retained Possession or Enjoyment of Trust Property
- A trust grantor can retain the possession or enjoyment of trust property.
- Federal Estate Tax: The property is included in the decedent's gross estate because the grantor retained "the possession or enjoyment of . . . the property." IRC § 2036(a)(2).
Retainer Agreements
- 🔑 Sample Retainer Agreement for Nursing Home: Valuable Language for Collection and Guardianship Services
- Collection services: 🔑 Sample hybrid billing agreement.
- Guardianship services for nursing home: 🔑 Sample language.
Retirement
- Wealth Accumulation
  - Investing
    - ➡️ The S&P 500 Isn’t as Diversified as It Looks
  - Saving
    - ➡️ Saving for Retirement is Important: It Can Make You a Millionaire
- Wealth Decumulation
  - ➡️ The Best and Worst States in Which You Can Retire in 2022
- Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
  - An IRA is often the largest asset that people have. So, learning how to plan for IRAs is important.
  - Traditional IRA
    - Distributions
      - General Rule: Distriubutions are taxable.
      - Exceptions:
        
        Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD)
        
        For individuals who are 70 1/2 or oder.
        
        Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) from IRAs, ACTEC Trust and Estate Talk, April 29, 2025.
    - Individual Retirement Account (IRA): What It Is, 4 Types, Investopedia.
    - Adam Hayes, Understanding a Traditional IRA vs. Other Retirement Accounts, Investopedia, April 24, 2025.
  - Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA)
    - Gordon Scott, Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA): Rules, Investments, and How to Get Started, Investopedia, April 30, 2025.
Reverse Mortgage
- Purpose: Allows older homeowners to borrow against the equity in their home
- Who is it for? For retirees who are equity-rich but cash-poor and need to supplement savings and Social Security
- Benefit: The borrower does not have to make monthly mortgage payments
- Costs:
  - Upfront fees
  - "ongoing expenses throughout the life of your loan" VanSomeren
  - Lindsay VanSomeren, Considering a Reverse Mortgage? Here's What You Can Expect to Pay, Money, 2025 (Apple News link).
- How can the borrower receive the proceeds?
  - Lump sum
    - Simplest option ,
    - Get all the proceeds at one time
    - Useful to pay for large expenses, like medical costs or a home upgrade
  - Line of credit
  - Monthly
  - Lindsay VanSomeren, Reverse Mortgages: How to Choose Between a Lump Sum, Line of Credit or Monthly Payment, Money (Apple News link).
- Paying back the reverse mortgage
  - Colin Grubb, How Do You Pay Back a Reverse Mortgage?, Money (Apple News link).
- Good idea?
  - Colin Grubb, Is a Reverse Mortgage a Good Idea?, Money (Apple News link).
  - Nelson Oyuga, Reverse Mortgage Pros and Cons, Money (Apple News link).
- General articles
  - Jeremi Davidson, What Is a Reverse Mortgage, and How Does It Work?, Money (Apple News link).
Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP)
- 🔑 Even Under Common-Law Rule Against Perpetuities, Trusts Can Last for Over a Century
Safekeeping Estate Planning Documents
- ➡️ Share the Location of Your Will, or It Will Be Worthless
SECURE Act (2019)
- Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) Act of 2019 (P.L. 116-94).
SECURE Act Regulations
- IRS Releases Proposed Regulations for SECURE Act
SECURE Act 2.0 (2023)
- ➡️ Chart Shows Surviving Spouses' Options for Inherited Retirement Accounts Under Secure 2.0
Social Security
- "Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will receive a 2.5 percent COLA for 2025." [Fact Sheet]https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/colafacts2025.pdf), ssa.gov.
Tax Basis
- 🔑 The Backdoor Step-Up in Basis for Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts
- ➡️ Flashback: Congress Considered Capital Gains Tax on Death in 1969
- Joseph Liberman, Nathan Sosner & Jonathan Maron, Combining Charitable Remainder Unitrusts and Tax-Aware Strategies to Diversify Low-Basis Stock, May 18, 20205 (SSRN link).
Tax Debt
- Federal Priority Statute (31 U.S.C. 3713)
  - "In U.S. v Neuberger, No. 1:22-cv-02977 (D. Md. 2025), decided October 23, 2025, a Maryland district court held that an attorney who served as sole director of a client’s holding company was personally liable for a $2 million tax debt under the federal priority statute." Edward Vergara, LinkedIn Post, Nov. 2, 2025.
Tax Loss Harvesting
- "Tax-loss harvesting using long and short positions has significantly increased in popularity. However, caution is warranted regarding several income tax issues, including the economic substance doctrine, fee deductibility, and passive activity losses." Katrina Crafton Fluet & Patrick J. McCurry, Key Takeaways | Family Offices: Evolution & Efficiencies, McDermott Will & Emery, Oct. 29, 2024.
Tax Policy
- Economic Incentives: Tax deductions are strategically used to influence behavior by reducing the cost of certain actions, encouraging employers and individuals to align with policy goals.
  - Daniel Schaffa, Reimagining the Deduction for Employee Compensation, 57 U. Mich. J. L. Reform 417 (2024). This article proposes restructuring the employee compensation tax deduction to incentivize employers to hire and raise wages for low-wage workers, aiming to address wage stagnation and improve labor market participation.
- Populism and Taxation
Tech: Cloud Computing
- Nicole Black, The real risk isn’t the cloud — It’s premises-based software, NY Daily Record, Aug. 1, 2025: Despite initial resistance, cloud computing is now widely recognized as more secure than on-premises software. Recent breaches in server-based SharePoint software highlight the vulnerabilities of outdated systems. Legal professionals should prioritize cloud solutions to protect sensitive client information and comply with evolving ethical standards.
- Linn Foster Freedman, CISA Releases Malware Analysis Report for Microsoft SharePoint Vulnerabilities, Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Insider, Aug. 7, 2025: "Threat actors continue to exploit ToolShell to gain unauthorized access to on-premises SharePoint servers."
- Grace Conley, IT Security: “Set and Forget” Easily Becomes “Fret and Regret”, Legal Talk Network, Aug. 7, 2025: Discusses "Why Legal Tech In the Cloud Is Safer than Ever."
Tech for Lawyers (and Law Students)
- Tech Labs at Law Schools
  - Law schools are increasingly providing tech labs where they learn the law and ways to deploy it in human-centered solutions. See Paul Caron, How Law Schools Are Reimagining Access To Justice Through Technology, TaxProf Blog, Aug. 8, 2025.
Tech: Privacy
- ➡️ NY WebSurrogate: Protecting Privacy or Limiting Access?
- IDeviceHelp, STOP Your iPhone From listening to Your Private Conversations!, YouTube, Sept. 6, 2024.
Transfer on Death Deed
- 🖇️ New York TODD
Transfers
- Donative transfers
  - (1) While alive
  - (2) After death
Trump as 47th President 🔗
- Timeline (Not Exhaustive)
  - N.B. This timeline is not all-inclusive.
  - 2025-01-20 Inaugurated as 47th President
    - "Donald Trump took office as the 47th president claiming an electoral and divine mandate to immediately invoke emergency powers on immigration and energy, pursue territorial expansion and reverse Joe Biden’s policies on car emissions and trans rights." Isaac Arnsdorf, Trump declares ‘liberation,’ claims mandate for emergency powers, Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2024 (Apple News link).
  - 2025-01-20 By an executive order, Trump creates the Department of Government Efficiency. See 🖇️ DOGE.
  - 2025-01-25 Judge pauses Trump's birthright citizenship order.
    - See Cheryl Miller, 'Where Were the Lawyers?' Judge Blocks Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order, Law.com, Jan. 23, 2025 ("In issuing a temporary restraining order, U.S. District Senior Judge John Coughenour questioned the legal work that went into what he called a 'blatantly unconstitutional' executive order restricting who qualifies as a U.S. citizen.").
  - 2025-01-25 Trump order pauses federal financial assistance programs from executive departments and agencies, pending review.
  - 2025-01-28 Federal judge pauses funding freeze.
    - See Cheryl Miller, Federal Judge Pauses Trump Funding Freeze as Democratic AGs Plan Suit, Law.com, Jan. 28, 2025 ("A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday temporarily blocked a Trump administrative directive freezing grant funding for a myriad of programs, including legal aid.").
  - 2025-01-29 Trump signs Laken Riley Act into law, expanding who can be deported
    - Ximena Bustillo, Trump signs first bill of his second presidency, the Laken Riley Act, into law, NPR, Jan. 29, 2025 (Apple News link) ("The bill is named for a Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man without legal status who had a criminal record.").
  - 2025-02-10 Trump instructs U.S. Treasury to stop creating new pennies.
    - "[T]he president ultimately has the authority to decide which coins the Treasury mints . . . ." Ocha & Adedoyin.
    - (+) Cost Savings:
      - "Some argue that the cost savings would be worth it . . . ." Ocha & Adedoyin.
      - "The cost of making a penny increased 20% in fiscal 2024, according to a report by the U.S. Mint." Ocha & Adedoyin.
      - On X, "DOGE said the penny 'cost U.S. taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023.'" Ocha & Adedoyin.
    - (+) Follows Precedent: "Canada said it would stop producing pennies in 2012, while Australia and New Zealand ditched the coins in the 1990s. In those countries, they have rounded to the nearest five- and 10-cent coins for cash transactions." Ocha & Adedoyin.
    - (+) Reflects Demand: "Demand for coins has been on the decline for some time." Ocha & Adedoyin.
    - (+) Reduces Waste: " It is estimated the U.S. throws away as much as $68 million worth of coins a year." Ocha & Adedoyin.
    - (-) Price Increases: "Others say abolishing the coin would have consequences for traders and consumers, because cash transactions would need to be rounded either up or down." Ocha & Adedoyin.
    - (-) Logistical Challenges: "In the event of the Treasury removing the penny from circulation, Congress would likely move quickly to legislate to enable merchants to round transactions to the nearest nickel." Ocha & Adedoyin.
    - Fabiana Negrin Ochoa & Oyin Adedoyin, Trump Tells U.S. Treasury to Stop Minting Pennies, WSJ, Feb. 10, 2025 (Apple News link).
- Consumer Prices
  - "Food and other grocery prices were particularly salient to voters, perhaps even more so than gasoline prices. // But there’s not that much policymakers can do to bring grocery prices down, especially in the near term. Even Mr. Trump himself is now admitting this." Jared Bernstein, Bidenomics Delivered on Its Promises, WSJ, Jan. 20, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - 2025-02-12 Trump called for lower interest rates, even though inflation rose for the third month in a row. See The Editorial Board, Trumponomics and Rising Inflation, WSJ, Feb. 12, 2025 (Apple News link ("Rising inflation means the Fed must be more cautious in cutting rates. . . . The 12-month increase in CPI is now back to 3%, up from a recent trough of 2.4% in September. So-called core prices, less food and energy, rose 0.4% for the month and are now up 3.3% over the last 12 months. . . . Mr. Trump isn’t responsible for this after only three weeks in office. But someone should tell him that the mistake goes back to the Fed’s premature interest-rate cut of 50 basis points in September.").
- Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) 🔗
  - DOGE has been granted broad, unprecedented access to private taxpayer information, raising serious concerns about privacy, security, and government oversight.
  - (+) Cutting waste and efficiency are laudable goals.
  - (+) Through DOGE, Trump is restoring power to the executive branch of the federal government.
    - William McGurn, Opinion: DOGE Lawsuits May Occasion Scalia’s Revenge, WSJ, Feb. 24, 2025 (Apple News link): "At its essence, the legal fight over Mr. Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency is about the extent of a president’s executive power. Scalia insisted that the division of power among three separate, coequal branches of government was the key to American liberty. Over the decades, Congress and the courts have eroded the president’s authority over his own branch—and Mr. Trump is trying to claw it back."
  - (-) An unelected billionaire is given extraordinary power and unprecedented access to private data with no oversight or transparency.
    - Unprecedented Access
      - Trump's 1/20/2025 ➡️ executive order backing DOGE gave Musk unprecedent access to government data beyond what any citizen has previously held. It states: "(b) Agency Heads shall take all necessary steps, in coordination with the USDS Administrator and to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure USDS has full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems."
      - "Trump has given free rein to Musk to send his operatives into more than a dozen federal agencies to look for evidence of mismanagement and subversion, and to generally create chaos, outside of the usual bounds of oversight and regulation." Chris McGreal, What does Elon Musk believe?, The Guardian, Feb. 8, 2025 (Apple News link).
      - DOGE's reach expands to health payment systems.
        
        Dan Diamond, Lauren Kaori Gurley, Lena H. Sun, Hannah Knowles & Emily Davies, DOGE broadens sweep of federal agencies, gains access to health payment systems, Washington Post, Feb. 5, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - The Great Elon Musk!
      - Official Trump-Vance transition materials referred to Musk in near-religious language--as "➡️ the Great Elon Musk."
    - Elon God?
      - DOGE spelled backward is EGOD, ➡️ a near-homophone for "Elon God". "Whether intentional or not, the Elon God (EGOD) interpretation signals a shift in Musk’s role—from entrepreneur to government powerbroker," I ➡️ wrote.
      - ➡️ DOGE Spelled Backward: Is “Elon God” a Coincidence or a Warning?, Feb. 4, 2025.
    - Anna Betts, Must to remain 'friend and advisor' to Trump after leaving Doge, says Vance, The Guardian, April 3, 2025 (Apple News link): "As a special government employee, Musk’s current service is capped at 130 days, which, if counted from the day of the inauguration, is set to expire sometime in late May. . . . Despite Musk’s 130-day cap, Doge is expected to continue until 2026, as a result of Trump’s executive order."
  - (-) Conflicts of Interest
    - Soo Rin Kim, As Musk cuts federal spending, his own firms have received billions in contracts, ABC News, Feb. 10, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Dictator?
    - Some critics argue that Trump is acting like a dicator.
    - Lauren Sforza, Ex-Trump insider is predicting who eventually will ‘break’ Trump, NJ.com, April 11, 2025 (Apple News link) ("'We have this new manifestation of an ogre that’s out of control. . . .,' Scaramucci told journalist Katty Kay on 'The Rest is Politics' podcast.").
    - Elie Honig, Trump Threatens to Imprison Critics — and Bondi Might Do It, New York, April 2025 (Apple News link) ("It’s one thing to target multibillion-dollar law firms, universities, and media outlets for organizational retribution; those efforts, aimed at stifling and punishing any criticism or dissent, are reprehensible in their own right. But now Trump is going after individual private citizens, using the might of the executive branch to potentially throw his detractors in prison.").
  - Lawsuit by unions
    - ➡️ Unprecedented Access: Legal Challenges Arise Over Elon Musk's DOGE and Taxpayer Data, Feb. 4, 2025.
    - The Editorial Board, DOGE Hits the Courts, WSJ, Feb. 6, 2025 (Apple News link) ("Two federal judges pause buyouts and limit access to Treasury payments.").
    - A federal judge declined to fully block this access but limited it to "read-only" for two DOGE-affiliated individuals. Source: Reuters.
  - Lawsuit by 19 states
    - 2/7/2025 Complaint filed
      - The Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief is available here.
      - Josh Gerstein & Emily Ngo, 19 states sue Trump, Treasury to halt DOGE access, Politico, Feb. 7, 2025 (Apple News link) ("New York leads the suit in Manhattan federal court alleging highly sensitive data is at risk. . . . Joining James in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.").
    - 2/8/2025 Judge issues temporary restraining order (TRO)
      - An annotated copy of TRO is here.
      - ➡️ Federal Court Issues Temporary Restraining Order Against DOGE's Access to Treasury Payment Systems
  - Mike Scarcella, Tim Reid & Humeyra Pamuk, Judge declines to bar DOGE from the US Institute of Peace after standoff, USA Today, March 19, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Ally Mutnick, Holly Otterbein, Sam Sutton & Lisa Kashinsky, Elon Musk presents a new vulnerability for Donald Trump, Politico, Feb. 6, 2025 (Apple News link) ("The billionaire's strategy of moving fast and breaking things isn't going over so well with the public.").
- Inflation
  - "Trump said he will sign a memo directing the government to address inflation, though the details of how that would operate were not provided." Isaac Arnsdorf, Trump declares ‘liberation,’ claims mandate for emergency powers, Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2024 (Apple News link).
  - "As a political matter, an inflation revival may be the biggest threat to the Trump Presidency. Mr. Trump was elected as voters reacted to inflation and falling real incomes under Joe Biden. Real average earnings are flat over the last three months as inflation has bounced up. If this persists, Mr. Trump won’t have a 53% job approval rating for long." The Editorial Board, Trumponomics and Rising Inflation, WSJ, Feb. 12, 2025 (Apple News link.
  - See 🖇️ Trump & Consumer Prices
- Sex Identification
  - "The new administration will officially recognize two sexes (male and female), defined based on the reproduction cells at conception. Government agencies will issue government documents showing people’s sex at conception, stop using gender identity or preferred pronouns, and maintain women-only spaces in prisons and shelters." Isaac Arnsdorf, Trump declares ‘liberation,’ claims mandate for emergency powers, Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2024 (Apple News link).
- Tarrifs
  - "Trump repeatedly praised tariffs in his speech, including by mischaracterizing them as a tax of foreign countries when they are paid by domestic consumers." Isaac Arnsdorf, Trump declares ‘liberation,’ claims mandate for emergency powers, Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2024 (Apple News link).
  - Trump's reasons for imposing tarrifs: Narrow trade deficit and bring manufacturing to the U.S.
    - "Trump wants companies to move their manufacturing to the U.S., and is using tariffs as one way to expedite that process." Angela Palumbo, Apple Stock Soars Alongside Market Amid Latest Tariff Update. That’s Confusing., Barron's, April 9, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - "Trump’s latest tariff salvos aim to narrow the country’s $1.2 trillion trade deficit in goods, which he describes as a national emergency. He is wielding tariffs as a powerful tool against both friends and foes in hopes of raising billions in revenue and bringing manufacturing jobs and production of critical goods back to the U.S." Reshma Kapadia, Why the Tariff Damage Can’t Be Undone, Barron's, April 4, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - "The White House unveiled a baseline tariff rate of 10% on all countries that goes into effect April 5. Even bigger duties against countries that levy higher rates on the U.S. will be charged in coming days, according to the administration." Brian Evans, John Melloy & Pia Singh, Dow drops 1,500 points, S&P 500 loses 4% as stock market rout on Trump's tariffs worsens: Live updates, CNBC, April 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - "These tariffs are being carried out through an executive order rather than Congress, so a new incoming president could change them in four years." Allison Johnson, Trump's tarrifs put the iPhone in a tough spot, The Verge, April 3, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Shamim Adam, Trump’s 10% Baseline Tariff on Most US Imports Takes Effect, Bloomberg, Apirl 5,2025 (Apple News link).
  - "The U.S. is set to impose a 20% tariff on the European Union under Trump's plan." Alexandra Marquez, Elon Musk says he wants a 'zero tariff situation' and a 'free trade zone' for Europe amid Trump's trade war, NBC News, April 5, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - "A Florida company says the President is violating the Supreme Court’s major questions doctrine. It’s a strong case." The Editorial Board, Opinion: Trump’s Tariffs Get a Legal Challenge, WSJ, April 4, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Annie Linskey & Meridith McGraw, Elon Musk Knocks Trump’s Trade Philosophy, WSJ, April 7, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - 2025-04-09 Trump pauses most tarrifs, causing the stock market to surge.
    - Callum Jones, Jennifer Rankin, Helen Davidson & Rowena Mason, Trump pauses plans to hike US tariffs on most countries except China, The Guardian, Apirl 9, 2025 (Apple News link).
    - Angela Palumbo, Apple Stock Soars Alongside Market Amid Latest Tariff Update. That’s Confusing., Barron's, April 9, 2025 (Apple News link).
  - Meridith McGraw, Trump Exempts Smartphones, Other Electronics From Chinese Tariffs, WSJ, April 12, 2025 (Apple News link) ("The guidance, published Friday night by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, also exempts machines used to create semiconductors, flat screen TVs, tablets and desktop computers from Trump’s 125% China tariff and his 10% baseline tariff on countries around the world.").
- Tax Cuts
  - David Morgan, Richard Cowan & Bo Erickson, US Senate Republicans pass measure to move forward on Trump's tax cuts, Reuters, April 5, 2025 (Apple News link) ("Non-partisan analysts say the Trump agenda, if enacted, would add about $5.7 trillion to the federal government's debt over the next decade. Senate Republicans contend the cost is $1.5 trillion, saying that the effects of extending existing tax policy that was scheduled to expire at the end of this year should not be counted in the measure's cost.").
    - "The measure also aims to raise the federal government's debt ceiling by $5 trillion, a move Congress has to make by summer or risk defaulting on $36.6 trillion in debt. It aims to partly offset the deficit-raising costs of tax cuts by cutting spending." David Morgan, Richard Cowan & Bo Erickson, US Senate Republicans pass measure to move forward on Trump's tax cuts, Reuters, April 5, 2025 (Apple News link)
- Testing the Checks-and-Balances System
  - Gerald F. Seib, Will the Other Two Branches Dare to Push Back Against Trump?, WSJ, Feb. 7, 2025 (Apple New link) ("At what point will Congress stand up for itself? And when and where will the nation’s courts draw the line on the aggressive use of presidential power? . . . For now, a Congress with a paper-thin Republican majority in both chambers seems reluctant to draw lines.").
Trust Companies
- Trust companies operate under charters--national and state.
  - Example: "On February 8, 2022, Peak Trust Company announced that it received conditional approval for a national charter and will open an office under this charter in Wilmington, Delaware in June 2022. The company was founded 25 years ago and operates under separate state charters in Alaska and Nevada." [[6203ec6e629eb5003bb8ff7d|➡️ Peak Trust Company is Expanding to Delaware, Feb. 9, 2022.
  - See ➡️ Why Would a Trust Company Obtain a National Charter Instead of a State Charter?
- 🚧 Some Trust Companies
  - Peak Trust Company
    - [[6203ec6e629eb5003bb8ff7d|➡️ Peak Trust Company is Expanding to Delaware, Feb. 9, 2022.
Trustee
- Selecting a Trustee
  - Individual
  - Professional
  - Corporate
- Appointment
- Reununciation
- Disqualification
- Incapacity
- Other Inability to Act
- Acceptance
- Resignation: Once a trustee accepts the appointment, can the trustee resign?
- Removal
  - By Grantor
    - By Sole Grantor
    - By Survivor of Joint Grantors
  - By Beneficiaries
  - By Trust Protector
  - By Court
- 🖇️ Vacancy of Trustee
- Duties of Trustees
  - Impartiality (Balancing Beneficiary Interests)
  - Prudent Investment
- Accounting by Trustees
Trustee: Co-Trustees
- Appointment of a Co-Trustee
- Independent Trustee
- Resignation of Co-Trustee
- Removal of Co-Trustee
Trustee: Vacancy 🔗
- Filled by Trust Grantors
- Filled by Trust Protectors
- Filled by Court
  - New York: A court can fill a vacancy of a trustee under SCPA 706 or SCPA 1502.
Trusts v. Wills
- Thomas P. Gallanis, American Revolutions in the Law of Trusts, George Mason Legal Studies Research Paper No. LS No. 25-07 (March 17, 2025), ACTEC Law Journal, Volume 51, No. 2 (2026, forthcoming) (SSRN).
- David Horton, In Partial Defense of Probate: Evidence from Alameda County, California, UC Davis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 390, Feb. 2015 (SSRN link).
- David Horton, Reid K. Weisbord & Christopher Ryan, The Trust Transfer Problem, 104 North Carolina Law Review (forthcoming 2025) (SSRN link). The article argues that "states should pass laws declaring that the mere act of executing a rev trust showcases the settlor's intent to funnel all of their assets into it when they die. This forgiving approach would better serve decedents' wishes, reduce burdens on estates and the judicial system, and bring this area into alignment with the functionalism of modern inheritance doctrine."
TX Wills
- ➡️ Article Discusses Texas Wills Issues (and More Footnotes!)
Uniform Electronic Wills Act (2019)
- Electronic Wills Act, Uniform Laws Commission.
- Reasons for the Uniform Electronic Wills Act
- Harmless error
  - UPC § 2-503 Harmless Error
  - "The harmless error doctrine may be particularly important in connection with electronic wills because a testator executing an electronic will without legal assistance may assume that an electronic will is valid even if not witnessed." Uniform Electronic Wills Act (2019) § 6 Comment.
Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act (UETAA)
- Original UETAA
  - Promulgated: 1958
  - Revised: 1964 and 1982
- 2003 Estate Tax Apportionment Act, Uniform Law Commission.
  - Incorporated into the Uniform Probate Code as Part 9A of Article III.
VA Power of Attorney
- ➡️ Virginia Clarifies Power of Attorney Authority Over TOD Deeds in 2024
VA Transfer on Death Deed
- ➡️ Virginia Clarifies Power of Attorney Authority Over TOD Deeds in 2024
Websites
- ➡️ How Financial Advisors Can Turn Website Visitors Into Clients With AIDA
Will Substitutes
- Mechanisms by which assets are transferred on death other than the probate system. In other words, assets transfer without the necessity of probate or other court intervention.
- Some will substitutes give lifetime rights; others do not, making them "purely testamentary in nature and . . . virtually indistinguishable from wills, except that resort to the Surrogate's court to effectuate the property transfer is not required." Fourth Report of the EPTL-SCPA Legislative Advisory Committee, April 14, 1995.
- Mechanisms
  - Joint Accounts
  - Life Insurance
    - "The essential elements of a will, i.e., that it is revocable until death and the interests of the beneficiaries are ambulatory, are equally present in the life insurance contract and its beneficiary designation." Fourth Report of the EPTL-SCPA Legislative Advisory Committee, April 14, 1995.
  - Pensions
  - Ladybird Deed
  - Lifetime Trusts (Revocable and Irrevocable)
    - "The Revocable Lifetime Trust is the most flexible will substitute, offering the possibilities of individualistic drafting to accomplish specific goals and obtain tax benefits." Fourth Report of the EPTL-SCPA Legislative Advisory Committee, April 14, 1995.
  - Transfer on Death Deed
- Resources on Will Substitutes
  - John H. Langbein, The Non-Probate Revolution and the Future of the Law of Succession, 97 Harv. L. Rev. 1108 (1984) ("The law would function better if it admitted that will substitutes are simply 'non-probate wills.' The inconsistent treatment of identical interpretive questions raised by wills and will substitutes is often linked to mischaracterization of will substitutes as lifetime transfers. The law of wills has reached sound solutions to these interpretive questions and I have urged that these solutions should extend presumptively to the will-like transfers of the non-probate system. The result would be a unified American law of succession.").
  - Fourth Report of the EPTL-SCPA Legislative Advisory Committee, April 14, 1995.
Wills
- ➡️ "I Love You" Will Might Not Show Love to Surviving Spouse
- ➡️ Share the Location of Your Will, or It Will Be Worthless
- Ambiguity
- Ademption
- Antilapse
- Execution
- Effect of . . .
  - Childbirth
  - Divorce
  - Marriage
- Extrinsic evidence
- Revocation
- Real Property
  - Specific Devise
    - A type of 🖇️ devise.
    - A specific devise is a preresiduary devise. C.f. 🖇️ residuary devise.
    - See 🖇️ NY Specific Devise.
  - Residuary Devise
Writing
- 🖇️ Bluebook
- 🖇️ Chicago Manual of Style
- Finding Joy In Writing About Tax Law
- Footnotes
  - ➡️ Article Discusses Texas Wills Issues (and More Footnotes!)
- ➡️ How AI Gives Me Confidence to Contribute to Professional Discussions
- plainlanguage.gov
- "Every author, I suppose, has in mind a setting in which readers of his or her work could benefit from having read it." Daniel Kahneman, *Thinking, Fast and Slow at 3.
Writing: Citations
- How to Cite Deposition and Trial Transcripts
- Hyphen, En Dash, and Em Dash in Legal Writing and Citation
🚧 WTE Posts
- ➡️ Peak Trust Company is Expanding to Delaware, Feb. 9, 2022.
ZineHS
- A tag on WTE that collects posts that explore the intersection of law and creativity. See ➡️ Welcome to ZineHS.
- The tag: ➡️ https://www.willstrustsestates.info/tag/zinehs/
- Posts:

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Hani Sarji

New York lawyer who cares about people, is fascinated by technology, and is writing his next book, Estate of Confusion: New York.

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