White Plains Legal Issues Blog

Often, family, friends, and co-workers will say that they did not consider creating an Estate Plan until they had children, and that the focus of their Estate Planning is to protect their children in the event that they themselves unexpectedly pass away.

Needless to say, Estate Planning for the benefit of one's children is a smart and natural approach.

However, Estate Planning is by no means something that should be considered exclusively by people with children.  

Indeed, individuals and couples without children - especially those with a high net worth - can benefit immeasurably from a well-crafted Estate Plan.

If you have not considered creating an Estate Plan because you have yet to start a family, contact Bashian P.C. and ask how you - and your spouse or partner - will uniquely benefit from our Estate Planning services. 

Starting a charitable organization can be a great way to give back and to make a positive impact in your local community or society as a whole.

It can also have significant benefits from a tax perspective, allowing your money to go further toward reaching your charitable goals.

However, starting a charity requires that you understand the difference between the different types of charitable organizations.

Doing so will help you to select the best option for your needs. 

If you are considering creating a charitable organization - for tax planning or any other purpose - Bashian P.C. can help. 

Under New York Law, there are four general grounds upon which to contest the validity of a Will.

These grounds - or Objections - include: the person who made the Will lacked "Testamentary Capacity;" the Will was not "Duly Executed;" the Will was a product of "Fraud or Duress;" and one of the most common - that the person who made the Will was the victim of "Undue Influence."

After a loved one passes, if you believe that their Will does not reflect their true final wishes, there is the possibility that they were subject to the "Undue Influence" of another.

"Undue Influence" itself is generally defined as:

"...moral coercion which restrained independent action and destroyed free agency...it must not be the promptings of affection; the desire of gratifying the wishes of another; the ties of attachment arising from consanguinity, or the memory of kind acts and friendly offices, but a coercion produced by importunity, or by a silent, resistless power which the strong will often exercises over the weak and infirm, and which could not be resisted, so that the motive was tantamount to force or fear."

In order to prove "Undue Influence," the person challenging the validity of the Will has the burden of establishing that someone not only was the victim of "Undue Influence" as defined above, but that the person exercising the "Undue Influence" had both the "motive," and "opportunity" to exercise "Undue Influence," and that they "actually exercised" "Undue Influence" over another.

If you believe that a loved one's Will may have been the product of the "Undue Influence," and seek to challenge the validity of that Will, Bashian P.C. may be able to help. 

Perhaps you felt honored when a loved one asked you to serve as his or her executor. You may have agreed without truly understanding what it would entail.

Now that your loved one passed away, you need to determine whether you can fulfill the duties of the job. Before making your decision, you may want to know to which responsibilities you agreed.