​Surrogate’s and probate work, whether planning for end of life or drafting probate submittals, require a tuned ear and extreme practicality.  Families are often torn apart, sometimes by the grief of passing, sometimes by expectations.  Like domestic relations, clients are not always at their best, and attorneys have a great responsibility not to exacerbate or compound the minefield of familial relations.  Wills must be properly drafted and will ceremonies conducted with the formal components executed carefully so as to provide a clear set of documents.  Trust with life estates and those providing for supplemental needs serve a clear purpose and must be drafted with great care to avoid the very invasions, which they seek to protect.  Living wills are ineffective in New York and Connecticut, and clients require health-care proxies and often carefully drafted powers of attorney.  The clients, ironically, repose great trust in their attorneys in these matters in that they are likely not to be around to complain of the results, and the attorneys’ product is a generational bridge and the voice of the client from beyond the grave.

---

Wills and Trusts

Probate and Administration of Estates

Healthcare Proxies

Durable Power of Attorney