One focused firm.Estate planning, elder law, estate administration, and guardianship. This is the entirety of what we do, and have done, for a combined sixty years.
Planning while there is still time is, for most people, the hardest part. It requires sitting with questions that are easy to defer: who will make decisions for you if you cannot, what happens to the people who depend on you, and what should remain after you are gone.
We begin with a thorough conversation, because the quality of a plan depends on how well we understand the person behind it. What a client wants to protect, who they are protecting it for, and what they want their life to look like in circumstances they hope never to face. Once we have that understanding, we draft documents that are individually tailored, written in plain language, and built to hold under the conditions they were designed for.
There are no standard packages. Every client's plan reflects their specific circumstances and nothing else.
Get in touch →When someone dies, whether after a long illness or suddenly, the people left behind are asked to navigate a legal process at one of the most difficult moments of their lives. Probate, intestate administration, trust settlement, filings in Surrogate's Court: each of these requires attention, decisions, and time that grief makes harder to give.
We handle the full administration of an estate, from the first steps after a death through the distribution of assets to the intended beneficiaries. Our role is to carry the legal work so that families are not left to figure it out alone, and to move the process forward with the care that the moment requires.
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Deciding to pursue a guardianship proceeding for a loved one is among the most serious decisions a family can make. It arises in moments of real concern, when someone close can no longer manage their own affairs, and when no prior legal plan exists to authorize another person to act on their behalf.
We handle Article 81 proceedings in New York, and we approach each one with the understanding that the law here is not a technicality. It is a significant intervention in someone's life. Before pursuing a court proceeding, we help clients identify whether guardianship is truly necessary, and whether a less restrictive alternative exists. When a proceeding is the right path, we provide experienced representation throughout, with consistent attention to the particular dynamics of each family and each individual involved.
Sheryl has served as a court-appointed fiduciary in Article 81 matters for more than three decades. Ralph has served as a court-appointed guardian to several incapacitated individuals. This is not an occasional area of practice for us.
Get in touch →Planning for the future is not only for people who are already ill. Many of our clients are in good health and are simply thinking clearly about what lies ahead: how long-term care is paid for, how assets are preserved, and how to make decisions now that will matter significantly later.
Elder law addresses the legal side of aging on one's own terms. That includes long-term care planning, Medicaid and Medicare guidance, asset protection strategies, and the preparation of documents that allow a person to retain as much autonomy as possible as circumstances change.
We work with individuals at every stage of life, and across a wide range of circumstances, including LGBTQ+ individuals and families, parents planning for children with disabilities, and people who have no family member positioned to advocate for them. The planning is different for each. The approach is the same.
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Most people come to us without knowing exactly which area applies to their situation. That is what the first conversation is for. We will help you understand what is relevant, what is urgent, and what can wait.
