On October 7, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2022-53,1 which provides much needed transition relief in the form of an IRS waiver of the 50% excise tax that could otherwise be imposed upon certain beneficiaries of qualified retirement plans (“Qualified Plans”) or individual retirement accounts (IRAs) who fail to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) … Continued

Frequently, estates and trusts have charitable beneficiaries. Trusts and estates attorneys should familiarize themselves with the rules that require certain estates and trusts to register and make periodic filings with the Charities Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s Office (the “Charities Bureau”).1 § 8-1.4 of the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) requires registration … Continued

Decisions of Interest and Recent Updates in Law Co-Mingled Property Is Marital Property The Second District Court of Appeal of Florida reversed a trial court order dissolving a marriage. The facts are as follows: In a divorce action, a Florida trial court determined a boat was a nonmarital asset belonging to the husband. The trial … Continued

Editor’s note: please see Sharon L. Klein’s article, Top Developments, Lessons and Reminders of 2022, on p. 5, which also discusses details of the case In re Pannella. Contract To Make a Will In In re Pannella, the decedent and his first wife executed identical wills leaving 100% of their estates to each other and the remainder to … Continued

Decisions of Interest and Recent Updates in Law Homestead Property Not Beyond Reach of Creditors Where Property Was Acquired With Funds Obtained Through Fraud The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Renda v. Price reversed an order disallowing foreclosure on the equitable lien against Rose Renda’s homestead property. The facts are as follows. Joseph Price (“Price”) was … Continued

In contested proceedings to judicially settle the accounts of the executor of the estate and attorney-in-fact for the decedent, the objectants moved for an order granting summary judgment against the fiduciary. The record revealed that at the time of her death in 2015, the decedent was widowed and her only child predeceased her. In 2006, … Continued

As the winter winds blow, rattling the window panes, we hope that you will have the time in the wan seasonal light to enjoy some interesting cases involving the elements necessary to constitute a will; a claim of adverse possession by a tenant-in-common as against other tenants in common surviving summary judgment; the children of … Continued

Sole proprietors often sponsor 401(k) plans, which are funded in whole or in part by employees choosing to defer their compensation,1 to access a very tax-advantaged savings vehicle under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”)2 and the New York State Tax Law.3 A 401(k) plan may have one participant, the proprietor, such as a … Continued

With a few exceptions, an individual who is domiciled in New York is taxed as a New York resident.1 In addition, an individual who is not domiciled in New York but who maintains a permanent place of abode in this state and spends, in the aggregate, more than 183 days in New York is a statutory … Continued

First introduced in 2012, the Legislature passed the Child-Parent Security Act (CPSA) into law on April 3, 2020.1 This act, for the first time, legalized gestational surrogacy agreements in New York in which the surrogate has not contributed genetic material. Further, it delineated procedures for establishing parentage for children conceived either as a result of such … Continued