East Greenbush, NY Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Hello. My name is Damien. I am a Trusts & Estates attorney in New York City practicing in the New York City metropolitan area. Generally, in order to sell the property when there is a life estate, all of the life tenants and remaindermen have to agree to the sale. Yet, a remainderman could sell, assign or transfer his or her interest in the property, but the buyer would have to take the property subject to the rights of the life tenants and other remaindermen. In other words, in effect, if all the life tenants and some remaindermen agree to sell their share of the property, the remaindermen who did not sell their share would remain as property owners holding the property as tenants in common with the new buyer or buyers. So, it is possible to argue that a contract among the other parties to sell their share of the property remains valid while the remainderman who did not agree to sell her or his property interest would keep her or his property interest and become a tenant in common with the other buyer or buyers. If you need any assistance, a New York Trusts & Estates Attorney could help you. If you wish to speak on the phone about it, you can call Damien Bosco, P.C. at (646) 452-7082 or email me at DamienBoscoEsq@gmail.com

It depends entirely on how you are the beneficiary. Many bank accounts are created with their own beneficiary designations, and they are sometimes called payable on death or "POD" accounts. If that's what you're dealing with, all you should have to do is present the bank with proof of the death and your identity. If you mean that you're a beneficiary under a Will or Trust, the process gets quite a bit more involved and depends on many facts that you don't really spell out in your question.

If it is apparent that the named executor lacks capacity or may lack the capacity to perform the duties of the executor, and the testator (the person creating the Will) is still living an has the mental capacity to update a current Will or create a new Will, then it would seem the best way to proceed is for the testator to create a new Will naming another executor. Nowadays, because of software, drafting a new Will is the preferred way rather than using a codicil to modify an existing Will because sometimes codicils are lost. If the testator does not want to update the Will and the named executor lacks capacity, upon the death of the testator, the successor executor named in the Will could offer the Will for probate and inform the court that the named executor lacks the capacity to perform the duties as the executor. If the executor did have some capacity, the executor could renounce the appointment. If there is no successor executor named in the Will, then usually another heir would offer the Will to probate and explain that the executor does not have the capacity. The court may appoint a guardian ad litem to determine if the executor has the capacity although it is unclear the court would do so. It is less likely that a person who has the Power of Attorney for the executor would be named the Executor rather than another heir. So, because of all this uncertainty, it is better for the testator to revise or create a new Will.