Probate & Estate Administration

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Sometimes in Surrogate’s Court proceedings there are parties who have an interest in the proceedings but for some reason they cannot legally participate.  This can occur in any type of proceeding:  Probate, Administration and Accounting are the most common.  A party is considered “interested” if the proceeding affects them in some way.  In order to…

What happens if someone involved in an Estate is dead?  These situations are very common.  A few standard approaches apply….let’s look at a few situations:

The most important distinction to know is that PRE-deceased situations are very different than POST-deceased situations.  When I refer to “PRE” and “POST” I am talking about when the person…

When I do Wills for clients, I always discuss the option of doing Living Wills and Health Care Proxies.  I consider these so important, and so fundamental to proper practice, that I offer them at no additional charge.  Here are the basics:

LIVING WILL – This is a person’s written declaration that if they are…

As noted in previous posts, aunts/uncles/cousins CAN inherit, subject to certain special rules.

During a kinship trial, cousin claimants not only have to prove their relationship, they also have to dis-prove the prior classes.  Specifically, they have to prove that the decedent died without a spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces/nephews.  It can be…

If a person dies without a Will, and the closest relatives are aunts, uncles and first cousins, do they inherit in New York?

The answer is YES, but there are some special rules. Aunts, uncles and cousins can inherit if there is nobody in the prior inheritance classes (spouse, kids, parents, siblings, nieces or nephews).  …

Sometimes family members feud.

Sometimes it’s irreparable (in the eyes of the participants…..I would always beg to differ, but that’s another story).

Sometimes thoughts of money and mortality will lead a person to take action.

So they make a will….with one main purpose…..to make sure that “X” doesn’t get anything.  Sometimes there are related purposes,…

In the last post I set forth a few “little things” that affect the probate process.  These things impact the complexity, timing and expense that may be involved.  Here are a few to consider:

1. A Will that is not attorney prepared and/or supervised.  Putting aside possible lack of clarity with a non-attorney will, there…

When we “probate” a Will, we are having the Court recognize it as official and proper. The Court then grants “Letters Testamentary” to the Executor, giving the appointed person authority to act.

When looking at a probate proceeding, a few basic elements will determine how simple or complicated the proceeding is going to be.

Here…