Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: grandmothers will

If aunt and decedent owned property jointly, with right of survivorship, then property passes to aunt outside will. Only property solely owned by decedent passes through the will.

Mike.

Re: grandmothers will

I agree with Mr. Markowtz except you would have to look at the title of the property and the bank accounts to see if their is a right of survivorship.

In other words, in the title lies the key to ownership after your grandmother dies.

If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Re: grandmothers will

While I agree with the other authors that the Will only operates on assets in the sole name of your grandmother and not assets having joint owners or designated beneficiaries, and that the title (ownership) registration must be examined for a final determination, I have a few questions. When and why was your aunt's name added to the accounts and when was the Will executed? Many older people add names to an account merely for "accomodation" and/or "convenience" so the people named can access the accounts if the true owner becomes incapacitated and/or cannot directly access them, and not knowing there are legal repercussions in doing this, such as the surviving person named is entitled to the account balance on death. If the Will is dated after the name was added, it might evidence that adding the name was for convenience or accomodation. If this was the reason, it might give you an opportunity to contest the ownership effect, as convenience accouts, if proved to be so, may be an exception to the general rule. More information is necessary. I should inform you that any contest can be time consuming and expensive, so a business decision also needs to be made; is the time and probable expense worth while?