Whether you need to form a corporation to protect your business, or have questions concerning your business, I can help you. From preparing the Certificate of Incorporation to completing your corporate books and issuing the stock certificates, there are many steps, and many issues to be dealt with professionally when a corporation is formed.
Whether you are purchasing a home, selling a home, or have a commercial property or business, I will ensure all of your real estate matters will be handled promptly and effectively.
Real Estate Transactions
I will give you advice, protect your interests, and help you achieve an effective resolution of your real estate transaction. Many referrals are from past satisfied clients who refer me to their friends, family and co-workers.
Landlord-Tenant Disputes
I have written and lectured on landlord-tenant law, from the landlord’s perspective. I regularly receive referrals from other attorneys and lawyers, real estate brokers and many others, requesting that I represent landlords in eviction matters.
One type of estate planning involves transferring or deeding real estate, typically to your children, with the condition that you can continue to reside in the real property for the rest of your life, and continue to pay the ongoing utility and other bills. This has a very fancy name: Deed of a remainder interest in the real property subject to a retained life estate.
Wills
If the deceased had a Will, then the Last Will and Testament must be probated in Surrogate’s Court. This means that the original Will with the deceased’s ink signature and the ink signature of the witnesses must be given to Surrogate’s Court, and the next-of-kin must be notified and either consent to the Will being probated, or given an opportunity to object to the Will being probated. When the Surrogate’s Court admits the Will to probate, the Court’s decree in essence requires that the terms of the Will must be followed.
Power of Attorney
Prior to September 1, 2009, a Durable Power of Attorney was a very weak document that was usually considered to have “expired” a year or so after it was signed. If you signed a Durable Power of Attorney prior to September 1, 2009, you should have a new Durable Power of Attorney prepared by your attorney now.
This had been one of the favorite estate planning strategies before the Medicaid law was changed in 2005-06, but it still has some use now. Further changes in the law, or in certain situations, may make this type of transfer still a valid option. There must be no mortgage on the property that could be declared due upon the transfer, or the real property could face foreclosure. There are many other issues to consider also, such as estate and gift taxes, Medicaid “look-back” periods, and other issues.