2020, Matter of Young, NY estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates successfully litigated this multimillion dollar NY estate on behalf of the biological niece and nephew who were adopted out of their biological family and later adopted back in. While most adoptees and NY estate lawyers alike are unaware of the inheritance rights of such heirs our firm successfully litigates these NY estates on behalf of the adopted who fit into this narrow category.
2020, Matter of Johnson, NY estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates successfully litigated this contested NY estate on behalf of our client, the decedent’s non-marital daughter. Upon the decedent’s death, our client’s step-sister who was a marital child denied having any knowledge of our client’s paternity despite growing up with her. Our firm asserted our client’s right to inherit as such and litigated this issue, eventually recovering our client’s intestate share from her father’s estate.
2019, Matter of Cermak, NY estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates successfully litigated this probate of an obliterated, altered will, largely disinheriting our client. This was a highly unique case requiring particular knowledge of the revocation process to upturn this document in its current form. The obliterated document had a no contest clause making it even more precarious to object to its contents.
2018, Matter of Richard, NY estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates successfully litigated the probate of this estate. Here a copy of a lost will turned up after administration proceedings had commenced. Lost wills are very precarious cases and this matter in particular involved highly complex estate issues which were eventually resolved with our clients’ recovering a substantial share in the estate.
January 2018, Matter of Demir, NY will contest lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully upset this attorney drafted will that was executed at the death bed of the decedent to the exclusion of his surviving relatives. At the time of the will’s execution, the 1404 examinations revealed that the decedent was suffering severe cognitive deficits from an advanced brain tumor.
July 2018, Matter of Simmons, NY will contest lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully defended this eight figure estate from a fraudulent will that was allegedly lost. Beneficiaries of this “lost will” came forward with a copy completely disinheriting our client from her half interest in the estate. Subsequently that lost will proceeding was dismissed and our client went on to receive her share of the estate.
May 2018, Matter of Stachtiaris, NY estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, procured a successful decision in Suffolk County Surrogate’s Court in the within will contest. Our firm, representing two sons contesting their mother’s will leaving the entire multi-million dollar estate to their sister for no apparent reason, successfully defended a motion for summary judgment on the grounds of due execution. As such, our firm raised a triable issue of fact on the validity of the instrument’s due execution. Thus the merits of this case shall be brought before a jury for a determination rather than having the case dismissed on the law.
January 2018, Matter of Hirsch, NY estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, exposed a scheme involving a neighbor who enlisted several attorneys to relieve the elderly decedent of her sizable estate. Our offices, representing the decedent’s brother, uncovered several disturbing layers of impropriety in the drafting and supervision of the decedent’s will. Ultimately our NY will contest lawyers were able to recover most of our client’s intestate share.
February 2017, Matter of Mercado, NYC estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully litigated the within multi-million dollar estate. In doing so our firm challenged the will of the decedent, as to testamentary capacity, which excluded his step brother and sister. Our clients were also adoptees which made retrieving the sizable recovery for our legatees more complicated.
June 2017, Matter of Stone, NYC estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully retrieved several hundred thousand dollars for sisters of an eccentric decedent. The co-workers of this individual had him sign over all of his brokerage accounts to them one week before his death. Additionally, the decedent’s “friends” and co-workers had him execute a health care proxy naming them his caregivers. The very next week his “friends” used said proxy by his bedside to order doctors to pull him off life support without notifying family.
May 2016, in a recent Surrogate’s Court decision, NYC estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully set aside a fraudulent deed transfer of a multi million dollar apartment building within New York City. As a result of our firm’s successful turnover proceeding, the Surrogate’s Court nullified the suspicious deed transfer bringing the asset back into the estate. As such, the building was eventually sold and its proceeds distributed to our clients accordingly.
May 2017, in Matter of Cianguilli, NYC estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully tried the within estate denying our client’s sibling’s cross-petition for letters of administration in their mother’s estate. Our NYC estate lawyers also had their sibling ejected from the estate asset, a multi-million dollar Manhattan apartment, compelling both the sale of said cooperative and the equitable distribution of its proceeds.
June 2017, in a recent accounting proceeding, NYC estate lawyers, Jason W. Stern & Associates were able to temporarily suspend the executor of the estate’s powers on suspicion of misappropriation of estate funds. Upon further inquiry throughout the accounting proceeding it was discovered that the executor had absconded with nearly half a million dollars of the estate’s assets. These misappropriated assets were eventually returned to the within estate and distributed to our estate clients accordingly.
July 2017, in the Matter of Fox, trusted NYC estate lawyers Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully represented 17 heirs in a NY kinship estate when their distant cousin passed away without a will. Our office was able to recover the entire estate valued at nearly $1 million dollars for our clients in less than twelve months.
March 2017, in the Matter of Bulsone, NYC estate lawyers Jason W. Stern & Associates, successfully obtained and probated the original copy of a will from an adverse party. The party was offered a substantial sum of money from an heir to destroy the instrument. The will left a property valued in excess of $1 million dollars to our clients. Without the considerable investigative work and tenacious NYC estate litigation team in locating and prying it out of the hands of the hostile party the property would have been delivered to the decedent’s estranged distributee.
December 2014, in the Matter of Dakowsky, NY kinship lawyers Jason W. Stern & Associates, were able to prove up kinship in this very complex, international kinship matter. The decedent who passed without a will or any surviving relatives closer than cousins had lost much of her family in Auschwitz making it very difficult to recreate her family tree. Our intensive investigation required the formation of a commission to take vital testimony from a family witness located in Santa Monica, California. Without this indispensable testimony kinship would not have been proven.
October 2014, in the Estate of Lastennet, NY estate lawyers Jason W. Stern & Associates, were able to remove an irresponsible fiduciary who had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from the estate. In this New York estate litigation, our firm was not only able to remove the fiduciary but surcharge him for his share of the remaining assts which were eventually sold off and distributed to the remaining heirs.
October 2014, in Matter of Belolan, NY estate lawyers Jason W. Stern & Associates successfully challenged an attorney drafted will in New York County in this multi-million dollar estate. Towards the end of the decedent’s life while suffering from dementia, a close family member had a suspicious will drafted leaving this entire estate to themselves. After substantial motion practice our NY will contest lawyers were able to secure a favorable distribution for our client thereby invalidating this fraudulent instrument.
June 27, 2013: NY estate lawyer, Jason W. Stern, successfully challenged an attorney drafted will in the Surrogate’s Court of the State of New York, County of Queens in Matter of Infosino. In this multimillion-dollar estate, NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern, representing the decedent’s son who had been completely disinherited from said estate, brought into question the validity of said will. As such, it was stipulated that the disinherited son would not only be appointed co-fiduciary in said estate but would also inherit a substantial portion of this multi-million dollar estate.
After my mother died, my sibling initially could not find my mother’s will so I hired NY estate lawyer Jason Stern to represent my interests. The situation seemed like a roller coaster ride. First there was no will, which meant I stood to get half of a $1.5 million estate. Then my sibling found a 21-year old will which gave my sibling everything, which meant that I would get nothing. Then it turned out that the will was not notarized – making it legally invalid. So it looked like I could get half the estate. Then my sibling’s lawyer found a witness for the old will which made it legally valid, which meant I stood to get nothing once again. During the entire time, Mr. Stern always promptly returned my calls and emails – and was supportive. Sometimes I felt like I was speaking to a friend, rather than an attorney. He assured me that if I were to get nothing, he would contest if years if need be to get justice for me and my children. This would not be an easy task because my sibling’s attorney blatantly told him that he did not want to settle the case because he is a trial lawyer and gets paid by the hour. Mr. Stern fought hard in court to negotiate a fair settlement for me and succeed in only a few months. Without him, I would not have gotten a penny from my mother’s estate. Not only was I impressed with Mr. Stern as a professional, but also as a person. After we reached a settlement, he encouraged me to mend fences with my sibling because he values family. I am very happy with Mr. Stern’s work and would recommend to anyone. – Charles I.
June 5, 2013: NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern, Esq. successfully challenged an attorney drafted and witnessed will in the Surrogate’s Court of the State of New York in New York County. In the Matter of Brownell, NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern called the deathbed will of a cancer patient into question that partially disinherited the decedent’s adopted daughter. After significant motion practice and the taking of lengthy deposition testimony of the attorney draftsman and attesting witness who was also an attorney with the firm, a favorable settlement was secured. The terms of the settlement permitted the contested will to be admitted to probate under the terms of a prior will that granted our client a greater portion of the decedent’s estate.
“When my fiancé passed away suddenly I was notified by his life insurance company that they were refusing to pay out the proceeds of his policy. I went online looking for a NY estate lawyer and found Mr. Stern. For two years Mr. Stern fought hard for me until he recovered the entire amount plus interest. I cannot say enough about him.” Mary June M.
April 5, 2010: NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern, Esq., successfully challenged an attorney drafted and witnessed will in the Surrogate’s Court of the State of New York. In the Matter of Martin, NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern called this attorney drafted and witnessed will that completely disinherited our client into question. After years of deposition testimony and motion practice we successfully met our burden illustrating that the will was in fact more likely than not the product of undue influence. Pursuant to the terms of that determination our client collected their natural portion of the estate as if there was no will.
“A couple of years ago, my wife and i hired NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern to prepare our wills, and review our estate strategy involving us and other members of our family. We found Attorney Stern to be very knowledgeable and experienced in the estate law area and handled himself in a very professional manner. My wife and I both fully trust Attorney Stern with our estate issues going forward.
Recently, additional legal matters involving an estate within our family has arisen. Attorney Stern immediately took on the involved NY estate issues with his normal higher energy and expertise.
We highly recommend Attorney Stern”. – David H.
“I found Jason through an online search for a local Queens estate attorney and from the start he was professional, responsive and accommodating. In addition to updating my will and taking care of a health care proxy, he provided valuable advice regarding financial planning. I would not hesitate to recommend him.” Suzanne D.
June 18, 2013: NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern, Esq., successfully challenged an attorney drafted and witnessed will in the Surrogate’s Court of the State of New York, County of Queens. In Matter of Palazzese, NY estate lawyer Jason W. Stern called this attorney drafted, witnessed will into question as a fraudulent will. After more than a year of deposition testimony, all parties agreed to allow the will to be probated under the terms of a prior nonfraudulent will that included our clients.
Jason Stern is one incredible attorney. He is thorough, courteous, positive, knowledgeable – and absolutely unrelenting when fighting for the concerns of his clients. He makes you ALMOST feel sorry for the other guys! I and my husband are legal novices. Jason made us feel completely at ease with him, while at the same time explaining the law and our rights to us clearly in a manner that was informative and wholly without condescension. We trust him completely and that is the most important thing. Thank you Jason Stern for making stressful legal issues as stress free an experience as possible. We feel we are in good hands in your office and are lifelong clients. – Sarah
“After the passing of my sister I unfortunately was involved in a beneficiary dispute over her life insurance policy. This feud was fueled by the maliciousness of the claims manager at the large insurance company whom for months refused to compensate my family for claims that was rightfully and legally ours. It was an emotionally painful experience especially after the death of a loved one. So many people told me how heartless the company was and said I should go to the news networks. I decided to inquire of my rights and find a lawyer and with one phone call I was advised and consoled by Jason Stern and met with him shortly thereafter. He told me my rights and was a comfort to talk to and I felt so relieved after meeting him. It was not just legal advice but it was his caring and looking out for the small person who had no voice or in my case had a voice but was treated with disrespect in a time of bereavement. I met with Jason Stern a second time bringing him documents he urgently requested and the next day he immediately sent out a letter to the insurance company. It was encouraging that someone was fighting on my behalf. A few days later Jason initiated a legal action against this insurance company on my behalf. To my surprise, within a few days Jason received a response from the attorney of this company who apologized for the behavior of its representatives and was looking into the matter. I was under the impression that looking into this matter would take few months to a year but I received a text from Jason only a short time later saying ‘the check is here’. Not only did Jason recover the entire amount, he recovered the interest from the date of my sister’s passing. There are no words to explain the joy I felt that day and more importantly there are no words that will do this testimonial justice. Even after I received the judgment Jason has still been instrumental in my financial and legal decisions above and beyond what was required. Within the course of a couple of weeks a legal case that was previously taking months going onto a year was quickly resolved. Not only have I found a great attorney I have found a friend that genuinely cares for people.”
Donna
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Being represented by Jason Stern and Associates is like being part of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles team. They go above and beyond the call of duty by making sure things get done right. Its been nothing but smooth sailing. They are my Jewel in a crown, and its all GOOD!!!!