What do you think happens if you have a Will where everything is left 50/50 to your two adult children, but you then have all of your money in a bank account and you only put one of your child’s names, with you, on the bank account as that child lives in your town and will be the one helping you.  If you answered that this one child gets 100% of your funds on your death and the second child gets $0, you would be correct, even though clearly not the intent.

The morale of the story in the attached Article is that your factual details are so important, with some work that will also be required, in order to have a comprehensive estate plan (whether a probate plan, non-probate plan or some type of combination) to avoid these types of surprises.

Effective July 19, 2024, New York Law now allows a real estate owner, including owners of a house, condominium unit or vacant land, to designate one or more beneficiaries to automatically receive the owner’s NY real estate when the owner dies, without the property having to go through probate.