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PUT OUR EXPERIENCE ON YOUR SIDE
Michael W. Goldstein is a well seasoned New York attorney who has been practicing law since 1979. His areas of practice include wills, trusts and estates, estate probate, estate administration, and estate litigation.

We represent clients who want a Will in order to ensure that their assets will be distributed to the relatives and/or close friends who they select, upon their death.  We also represent clients who want a Living Trust, which can serve various purposes.  Our firm also provides professional legal services for estates, including probating an estate, administering an estate, including collecting the decedent’s assets, and distributing the assets to the designated beneficiaries, or as determined by law, if the decedent died intestate (with no Will.)  We also assist in transferring title to the deceased’s assets.

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Last Will and Testament

A valid legally enforceable Last Will and Testament (“Will”) insures that your wishes regarding the disposition of your assets upon your death will be followed. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can simply sign and notarize a letter or other statement of your desires as to who will inherit your property. New York estates law requires that a Will satisfy the statutory requirements, in order to be valid and enforceable. There is little reason to save an attorney’s legal fee in preparing a Will, and risk leaving your heirs the substantial inconvenience, uncertainty and expense of a Surrogate’s Court litigation to determine who will receive your assets after death.

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Living Will and Health Care Proxy

In addition to executing a properly prepared Will to protect your loved ones, you may also want to protect yourself with a Living Will and Health Care Proxy. These documents can explicitly state your desires regarding whether or not to keep you alive on a respirator if there is no chance of recovery, whether you should spend your last days at home or in a hospital, etc. The Health Care Proxy enables you to designate a trusted friend or relative to make health care decisions for you, if you are mentally or physically unable to make or express those opinions.

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Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney enables you to legally appoint a trusted family member, friend, or other person you designate to sign legal documents on your behalf. For example, a Power of Attorney is useful if you have entered into a contract to purchase or sell real estate, and you will be traveling out of the country when the closing of title will take place. With a Power of Attorney, you can grant authority to your designated representative to sign legal documents on your behalf at the closing of title, and to pay or collect the required sums of money to complete the transaction on your behalf.

A Power of Attorney is an extremely powerful and potentially dangerous document. Its scope can be limited or broad, depending on the needs of the grantor of the Power of Attorney. We recommend that your Power of Attorney be carefully prepared to insure that it only grants the authority that you intend to convey, and that it is effective for only the intended period of time or the particular transaction. We are ready to assist you in the preparation of a Power of Attorney to meet your specific needs.

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Estate Litigation

Some estates require the professional legal services of an estate litigation attorney  This may occur in various situations, including, for example, if a relative or a prior beneficiary under a previous will, who is not named as a beneficiary under the decedent’s most recent will, decides to challenge the validity of the decedent’s Last Will and Testament.

Our many years of successfully litigating various types of disputes in the courts of New York State, give us the experience to zealously and effectively represent our client’s interests.

The pre-trial discovery phase of litigation is critical to uncovering evidence crucial to proving the validity of our client’s case or defense. We carefully and relentlessly utilize the New York rules of pre-trial discovery in order to obtain important evidence that our adversary would prefer be left unknown.

As a highly experienced New York litigation attorney, we are sensitive to the need to not only achieve a desirable result, but also to do so in a cost effective manner.

In our litigation practice, we extensively prepare our cases for trial. This often results in negotiations that lead to successful settlements without the need for a trial. Successfully resolving a litigated case before trial may save our clients from the added expense, time and inconvenience of a trial.

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WE REPRESENT CLIENTS WHO LIVE  IN MANY AREAS OF NEW YORK STATE
Although our office is located in Manhattan, we represent clients in all counties of the City of New York, as well as Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, and upstate New York.  If it is inconvenient for a client to travel to our office, alternate arrangements can be made.

PERSONAL SERVICE AND COMMITMENT TO CLIENTS
Michael W. Goldstein is dedicated to providing the highest quality and most comprehensive legal representation to all of his clients. Michael W. Goldstein believes that his clients are best served through the application of his diverse skills, and close personal contact with each client. This approach enables him to focus quickly on the legal and economic issues. He seeks not only to analyze and resolve legal issues, but also to maximize the likelihood of a favorable outcome for each client’s case or legal matter.

WHY YOU SHOULD SELECT OUR LAW FIRM
We believe that if you select our law firm to represent you, you will be impressed with our conscientious and full service legal representation. The Law Offices of Michael W. Goldstein is dedicated to providing the highest quality legal services and is proud that client satisfaction is extremely high. Many of our new clients are referred by former clients.

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM MICHAEL W. GOLDSTEIN
Thank you for visiting our website. When you retain our law firm, we will work conscientiously and tirelessly to represent you. Because I share a relaxed yet professional relationship my clients, they feel at ease when discussing their case or legal matter with me. High volume law firms cannot provide their clients with this level of personal attention. Lawyers who handle too many cases often leave their clients feeling unimportant or ignored. I balance my resources and caseload to ensure thorough representation for each of my clients.

REFERRALS FROM OTHER ATTORNEYS
We accept New York wills, trusts & estates legal matters from other lawyers. Co-counsel fees are paid as permitted by New York law. We invite referring attorneys to click Attorney Referrals to tell us about your client’s New York case or legal matter.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CASE OR LEGAL MATTER
To have your case or legal matter reviewed, we invite you to complete our Questionnaire, or click Contact Us to send an email. You may also call Michael W. Goldstein to discuss your case or legal matter by telephone, or to schedule a consultation at our office.

TIME LIMITATIONS
There are strict time limitations that apply to New York lawsuits, including Will contests, and other estate litigation, and other types of New York litigation. The statute of limitations (time limit for commencing litigation) varies depending on the type of case, and in some instances, depending on the defendant being sued. Furthermore, many types of claims and lawsuits also have other time limitations (in addition to the statute of limitations), such as time limitations for filing a Notice of Claim, Notice of Intention to Make Claim, and other important documents.

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GENERAL DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this website is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor to create an attorney-client relationship or lawyer-client relationship. We recommend that you discuss your legal matter or case with a NY lawyer or New York attorney promptly.

Visiting our website, submitting any information via questionnaire or email, or discussing your case with us does not create an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship with our law firm can only be established with the signing of a written retainer agreement prepared by our law firm.

Under New York law, in the event there is no recovery in a contingency fee case, the client is responsible for the expenses of the litigation, including court costs and disbursements.

Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future case or legal matter.

This website is not intended to solicit clients for wills, trusts or estates, or any other legal matter outside of New York State. However, we do represent clients who live outside of New York State, and are engaged in a New York State estate transaction, or who need legal services for New York wills, trusts or estates matters, or other legal matters that involve New York law, or a dispute that is or may be litigated in the courts of New York State, or disputes that may be arbitrated or mediated in a New York State Alternative Dispute Resolution forum.

NEW YORK LAWYER DISCLAIMER
The New York wills, trusts & estates information provided in this website is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor to create an attorney-client relationship or lawyer-client relationship. We recommend that you discuss your wills, trusts or estates matter with a NY lawyer or New York attorney promptly.

New York Wills, Trusts & Estates Lawyers and Attorneys New York, representing clients throughout New York State, including New York City, Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester County, Rockland County and upstate New York.

Law Offices of Michael W. Goldstein, a New York Wills, Trusts & Estates Law Firm
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