What is a Living Trust and Do You Need One?

A living trust is also known as an inter vivos trust or a revocable trust. It is a trust that is made during your lifetime and involves transferring assets into the trust and naming a trustee to manage those assets. Usually, the trust creator or settlor is the initial trustee and a backup trustee is […]


Environmental Due Diligence: Do Your Homework before You Buy

Every now and then we’re visited by a new client who discovers he bought contaminated property and needs legal help.  In almost all of these cases, our client bought the property without first getting advice from an environmental lawyer or conducting adequate environmental due diligence on the property.  We’re always glad to help, but the […]


Winter with a Purpose

Sometimes in the depths of the long, long winter, it’s difficult to find the motivation to do anything but camp out under the covers in front of the TV…or, in these modern times, in front of our mobile phones. As Jack Frost nips at our nose, the struggle to call an official hiatus on screen-time […]


‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE…STRATEGIC!

As the year winds to a close (or, let’s be honest, steamrolls toward December 31) and we take time to appreciate and give thanks for our many blessings, our thoughts inevitably turn to those in need.  Of course, part of the reason for that is the barrage of phone calls, email and snail mail solicitations […]


BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS

  Life insurance policies, employer-sponsored retirement plans, annuities, and retirement accounts.  Odds are, you look at this list and see at least one financial account that you hold.  All of these accounts are generally payable upon the death of the account holder to beneficiaries named via beneficiary designations.  Beneficiaries could also be named on certain […]


Selecting An Environmental Lawyer

Environmental law matters frequently involve an overlap of and interplay between legal, scientific and business concerns.  Translating science into policy and policy into law and the resulting enforcement or interpretation of the law by government agencies and the courts can leave the prospective client frustrated, confused and confounded by the law and its regulators.  Adding […]


Special Needs Trust: The Basics

Special needs trusts are essential when a person with disabilities has assets to protect and when that person’s parents are considering their estate plan. Whether the person with the disability has funds, receives funds from a personal injury settlement, or receives funds and property as a gift, the money must be managed carefully. Special needs […]


What Should You Do When You Find Out Or Suspect Your Business Property Is Contaminated?

Today, federal, state and even local agencies in New York enforce environmental laws and regulations designed to help keep the environment clean.  Companies find it makes good business sense to have sound environmental practices.  There is a culture of environmental awareness and recognition that we should be protective of the environment. It wasn’t that long […]