Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: will, living will, power of attorney,

I agree with the other writiers, except to say that spouse is first in mline to be health care proxy, then children. If no spouse or children, parents come first.

Re: will, living will, power of attorney,

Assuming you live in NY on the date of death, a NY statute will determine where your property goes. Your spouse is first in line and gets the first 50K of your estate and half the remainder. The remainder will go to your children and your grandchildren if your children die before you. The law then uses essentially a family tree to distrubute should you have no spouse or children.

As for the house, if you are the sole owner then it will go into your estate and be distruted as noted above. If it is owned jointly with a right of survivorship with another person then that person gets your half of the house by operation of law. This is true for any other property including bank accounts that is jointly owned this way.

If you don't have a living will and/or health care proxy, then a family member who volunteers will be apointed to make your healthcare decisions and decisions regarding life support.

I'd be happy to discuss this further with you. A Will, Living Will, and proxy can be prepared for a modest fee depending on the complexity. I handle these types of matters; please contact me.

Re: will, living will, power of attorney,

If a person dies without a Will, then the laws of intestacy determine who will receive his property. It all depends on who the survivors are. If you have no living will or health care proxy, and you become incapacitated to the extent that you cannot communicate your wishes to a physician, your proxy may make the decisions on your behalf. If you do not have these documents, the rules of the state and the hospital will apply and generally the doctors will use all permissible means to keep you alive.