GARY E. BASHIAN, born New
York, N.Y.; admitted to bar, New York, Connecticut, U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit and U.S. Tax Court.
Education: Gettysburg
College (A.B.); Boston University (J.D.); New York University (LL.M. in
Taxation). General Counsel, United
States Tennis Association/ Eastern Section, Incorporated, 2002-2004. Director,
Estate Planning Council of Westchester, 1972-1975, 1990-1993. Delegate, New
York State Bar Association House of Delegates, 1995-1998; Board of Directors:
YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester, 2002-2008; United States Tennis
Association/Eastern Section, Inc. Junior Tennis Foundation, 2001-Present.
Member:
Westchester County (Chairman, Tax Section, 1977-1980; Chairman, Trusts and
Estates Section, 2004-2007; Treasurer, 1981-1989; Vice President, 1989-1993,
President-Elect, 1993-1995; President, 1995-1997. White Plains; New York State
(Member Sections in: Business Law; Commercial and Federal Litigation; Elder
Law; Tax; Trusts and Estates Law Section, 9th Judicial District Representative
to Trusts and Estates Law Section, 1990-1994; Executive Committee, Trusts and
Estates Law Section, 1994—; Tax Section Committee on Partnerships, 2005—; Tax
Section Committee on Estates and Trusts, 2005—; Vice Chair, Estate Litigation
Committee, Trusts and Estates Law Section, 1995-2013); Vice-Chair, Practice and
Ethics Committee 2013-2016; Vice-Chair Practice and Ethics Committee 2016-
Greenwich, Connecticut; Connecticut and American (Member, Sections In:
Litigation; Real Property, Probate and Trust Law; Taxation).
Bar
Associations:
American Bar
Association, New York State Bar Association, Westchester County Bar
Association, White Plains Bar Association, Westchester Women's Bar Association
1997.
Speaker: New York State Bar Association CLE program on,
Accounting & Income Tax Management for Small Estates, October 22, 1976 and
November 5, 1976; New York State Bar Association CLE program on, Estate Probate
& Administration for Estates up to $500,000 Fall 1978; New York State Bar
Association CLE program on, Estate & Gift Taxation of Estates up to
$500,000 Fall 1979; New York State Bar Association CLE program on, Estate
Planning and Will Drafting Spring 1990; New York State Bar Association
Moderator CLE program on, Administration of Decedent's Estate and Related
Surrogate's Court Proceedings Spring 1991; New York State Bar Association CLE
program on, Practical Skills for Paralegals and Legal Assistants Spring 1992;
New York State Bar Association Moderator CLE program on, Fiduciary Income
Taxation Spring 1992; New York State Bar Association CLE program on, Practical
Skills Probate and Administration of Estates Fall 1992; New York State Bar
Association CLE program on, The Use of Trusts in Planning for the Elderly Fall
1992; New York State Bar Association Chair CLE program on, Basic Changes and
New Direction in New York Trusts and Estate Practice Fall 1992; New York State
Bar Association Moderator CLE program on, Settling an Estate Spring 1993; New
York State Bar Association Chair CLE program on, Practical Skill Estate
Planning and Will Drafting Fall 1993; New York State Bar Association Speaker
CLE program on, Practical Skills Probate and Administration of Estates Fall
1994; New York State Bar Association Speaker CLE program on, Practical Skills
Probate and Administration of Estates Fall 2004; New York State Bar Association
Chair CLE program on, Advanced Estate Planning Fall 1998; New York State Bar
Association Chair CLE program on, Practical Skills Estate Planning and Will
Drafting Fall 2001; Westchester County Bar Association, Speaker, program on,
Will Contests Including Preparation and Taking the Deposition and SCPA 1404
Witnesses, May, 2004; New York State Bar Association Chair and Moderator on Hot
Topics in Trusts and Estates Practice, Fall, 2004; Westchester County Bar
Association CLE program on What Every Accountant Should Know About Elder Law,
Medicaid, Wills and Trusts and the Rules of Each Which Are Often Times
Contrary, Summer 2005; New York State Bar Association CLE program on The New
Medicaid Law: Life (Elsewhere in the Elder Law Practice) Goes On & Drafting
Powers of Attorney (after Ferrara), Winter 2006; Westchester County Bar
Association, Speaker, Program on, Wills and Trust Planning: Federal and State
Estate Tax Changes, June, 2006; Westchester County Bar Association CLE program
Moderator on Discovery & Turnover Proceedings by a Guardian or Other
Fiduciary Under MHL Section 81.43 and SCPA 2103, Spring 2007; Westchester County
Bar Association, CLE program on Will Contests Including Preparation and Taking
the Deposition and SCPA 1404 Witnesses, May, 2007; How to Avoid Conflicts with
Your Children, Sterling Glen Nursing Home, 2007; Westchester Bar County Bar
Association, CLE program on How to Win in Surrogate's Court through CPLR
Pre-Hearing Discovery, Summer 2008; Westchester County Bar Association, CLE
program on Ethical Issues in Estates and Trusts Litigation, Summer 2009;
Westchester County Bar Association Newsletter "New Durable Statutory Power
of Attorney Form Enacted with Major Changes, Effective September 1,
2009.", April, 2009; New York State Bar Association, CLE Program on,
Everything You Wanted to Know About Estate Planning for the Middle Class Client
(But Were to Afraid to Ask), June, 2009; "5 Reasons Why We fell in Love
with the Durable Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney and Statutory Major
Gifts Rider Form, Co-Author, Westchester County Bar Association Newsletter,
October, 2009; Westchester County Bar Association Newsletter "Top Five
Areas of Concern About the New Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney."
December, 2009; Westchester County Bar Association, Moderator, CLE Program on,
Powers of Attorney, February, 2010; Pace Law School CLE Drafting Skills to Avoid Litigations,
Speaker, April, 2010; WCBA Trusts &
Estates Law Section Speaker June, 2011, June 2012, June, 2013, June
2014, June 2016, June 2017 all regarding Estate Litigation; New York State Bar
Association September 25, 2017, October 3, 2017 & October 23, 2017.
Author:
Stock Dividends and Section 305: Realization and the Constitution, Duke Law
Journal, Vol. 1971, No. 6, 1972; Tax Tidbits, Westchester Bar Journal,
1977-1999. Co-Author: Estate Litigation Tidbits, 1999-Present; Discovery Under
the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act, New York State Bar Journal and Westchester
Bar Journal, 1994; Contributing Co-Author: Estate Litigation Course Book, New
York State Bar Association Committee on Continuing Legal Education, 2002. Surrogate's Court Discovery: Recent Cases
Illustrate Changes Under Provisions of SCPA, New York State Bar Journal, 2004;
Article 15: Short Form Power of Attorney - A Valuable Tool, Westchester County
Bar Association Newsletter, December, 2005, Contributing Editor/Author,
January, 1976-Present, Westchester Bar Journal. Estate Litigation Tidbits,
Author, Westchester County Bar Journal, Spring/Summer, 2010; Revoking a Waiver
and Consent Is Not As Easy As You Think, Co-Author, New York State Bar
Association Trust and Estates Quarterly Newsletter, Spring, 2010; "Death
Bed" "Quickie" Marriages Held To Be Void Ab Initio By Appellate
Division, Co-Author, New York State Trust and Estates Bar Association Quarterly
Newsletter, Summer, 2010; New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates
Section, Article, Waivers and Consents, Spring, 2010, "Court of Appeals
Rules There is Privity Between the Estate Planner and the Client's Personal
Estate Representative: But No Privity to Beneficiaries of the Estate", Singer Contra Cohn, "New York's Evolving Approach to In Terrorem
Clauses"; Estate Litigation Tidbits Spring/Summer 2010; WCBA Newsletter
2010 "Equity Prevails and Voids Marriage Between Aides and Aged
Patients", "Court of Appeals Overturns Itself in Hyde and Approves Allocating Estate's Attorney's Fees Against
Objecting Beneficiaries if Litigation Against Estate is Vexatious",
Technical Corrections to the New Statutory Power of Attorney and Statutory
Major Gifts Rider; Westchester County Bar Association Estates and Trusts
Section in Fiduciary Litigation, "Self Dealing by Trustees", Speaker,
June, 2010; Pace Law School CLE, Elder Law and Abuse Seminar Fraud and Exploitation of the Elderly for
Attorneys, Speaker, June, 2010; Westchester County Bar Association Newsletter,
"Equity Prevails and Voids Marriage Between Aides and Aged Patients, July,
2010. Trust and Estates Section NYSBA Newsletter 2011 "Summary Judgment
Motion in a Will Contest: An Updated Proponent's Perspective"; WCBA Estate
Litigation Tidbits Spring/Summer 2011; WCBA Estate Litigation Tidbits Fall/Winter
2011; WCBA Estate Litigation Tidbits Fall/Winter 2012; WCBA Estate Litigation
Tidbits Spring/Summer 2013; WCBA Estate Litigation Tidbits Winter/2016; WCBA
Estate Litigation Tidbits Spring 2017; WCBA Newsletter 2011 "Summary
Judgment and Contested Accountings, Not Just For Petitioner Anymore;
Fiduciaries Beware", "Supreme Court Westchester Sends Original Last
Will and Testament of Article 81 Incapacitated Person to Surrogate's Court of
Westchester: Clash of Jurisdictions In Our Own Backyard"; WCWBA 2011,
"A Posthumous Primer On Undue Influence: Taschereau"; NYSBA Journal
June 2011 "Summary Judgment Motion in a Will Contest: an Updated
Proponent's Perspective"; [1st Lt., Judge Advocate General’s
Corps., United States Army Reserve].
WCBA Newsletter 2011 "Elder Abuse: Tragedy and Triumph A
Practitioner's Perspective"; WCBA Newsletter 2012 "I Did But Now I
Don't...Vacatur of a Probate Decree Admitted on Consent Rarely Granted";
Estate Litigation Tidbits Winter/Spring 2012; WCBA Newsletter 2012 "No
Interest Too Small for Beneficiary Standing and Revocable Trusts"; WCBA
Newsletter 2013 "Turning the (Board Room) Tables: Corporate Dissolution at
Common Law", WCBA Newsletter 2013 "A Practical and Balanced Approach
to SCPA 117 Fiduciary Suspension and Revocation". WCBA Newsletter 2014
"Even Death Is No Excuse For Negligence". WCBA News Letter August,
2014 "Deposition Practice In The Surrogate's Court, A Pre And Post
Objection Primer". "Winning A Will Contest" NYSBA CLE Program
Webcast, Fall 2015. Westchester Lawyer WCBA January 2015 "Post Appeal
Motions To Renew In The New York State Supreme Court". NYSBA Trusts and Estates Law Section
Newsletter Winter 2015 Vol. 48 No. 4 "Constructive Trusts and the "Elastic"
Power or Equity". Westchester
Lawyer January 2016 "Guardianships -The Basics Under Article 81 of the
Mental Hygiene Law”. New York State Bar
Association Newsletter Fall, 2016 “Potts and Freeman Updated: Surrogate’s Court
Criteria and Rationale For Fixing Legal Fees in Estates”. New York State Bar Association Newsletter
Spring, 2017 Trusts and Estates Section “Defeating Summary Judgment in an SCPA
Turnover Proceeding”.
REPORTED
CASES:
Probate Proceeding, Estate of Alexander MacLeman, Deceased, 9
Misc.2d 1119A, 808 N.Y.S.2d 918 (2005); In
the Matter of the Jan Reynolds 1995 Revocable Living Trust, 2006 N.Y. Slip
Op. 26087; In the Matter of the Estate of
George J. Ferrara, Deceased, 7 N.Y.3d 244, 852 N.E.2d 138, 819 N.Y.S.2d 215
(2006); In Re Matter of Carbone 101 AD 3D 866 Appellate Division 2nd
Dept. (2012). Matter of Cresap, 50 Misc.
3d 1226(A), 2016 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 728 (Sur. Ct. Westchester County 2016).
PRACTICE AREAS: Probate and Estate Administration; Trusts
and Estates; Estate, Trust and Accounting Litigation; Elder Law; Guardianship
and Guardianship Litigation; Corporate and Commercial Litigation; Tax Law;
Corporate Law; High Net Worth Matrimonial Law.
New York State Bar Foundation (1989—).