RUDOLF J. KARVAY - NEW YORK ESTATE & TRUST ATTORNEY PROFILE

Rudolf has represented clients in a broad range of estate and trust matters including litigation, probate, administration, kinship proceedings, estate planning and taxation. He has also handled matters involving real estate transactions, civil litigation and family law.

After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hofstra University in 1985, he worked as an art appraiser with a New York City auction gallery. He then attended Brooklyn Law School as a Richardson Scholar and earned his law degree in 1992. While in law school he worked as the senior law clerk for the Counsel to the Public Administrator for Kings County, New York where he was first exposed to trust and estate law. For the past 20 years, Rudolf has devoted his practice to the trust and estate field.

Rudolf is a partner at a prominent Long Island law firm - Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, Peddy & Fenchel, P.C.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Rudolf is a frequent lecturer on estate and trust topics and is a member of the Nassau County Bar Association where he serves on the Surrogate’s Court Committee. He is also a member of the Estate Planning Council of Nassau County.

COMMUNITY WORK

He is active in his community and currently serves as the President of the Board of Trustees of Bleuler Psychotherapy Center a not for profit mental health clinic located in Forest Hills, New York. He also serves on the Professional Advisory Committee of the Long Island Community Foundation and is a volunteer attorney with Wills For Vets providing free basic estate planning documents for U.S. Veterans. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Hauppauge, NY.

Rudolf represents clients in all New York state and Federal Courts. His main office is located in Garden City, New York.

PRACTICE AREAS

ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

Rudolf efficiently manages the disposition of clients' estates, from probate through final accounting. He addresses the needs of surviving family members and counsels fiduciaries in the best way to manage a decedent's assets. Rudolf provides advice and representation on Federal and New York State estate, gift and income tax issues that affect the estate or trust, its beneficiaries or fiduciaries.

ESTATE LITIGATION

Rudolf is an experienced estate litigator and has handled high profile estate contests in New York State, and he fully understands the complicated issues that surround estate litigation. With an intimate knowledge of the Surrogate's Court system, Rudolf has represented parties in a broad range of litigated estate matters such as kinship proceedings, contested accountings, disputes over business succession, gifts, competency and undue influence concerns in probate contests, simultaneous death issues, a spousal right of election, and spousal abandonment.

ESTATE PLANNING

Rudolf possesses an in-depth knowledge of the legal, tax and personal issues that accompany planning an estate. He understands all aspects of estate planning, including the transfer of a closely-held business, planned giving, asset protection, minimizing estate, gift and income taxes. Rudolf's experience in drafting wills, trusts, health care proxies, living wills and powers-of-attorney ensures that his clients' wishes are carried out.