When I am about to represent someone who is about to become a Fiduciary (Executor or Administrator) of an Estate, I find it helpful talk about “how an Estate finishes”. Like many things in life, if you know where you are trying to go it is easier to make a good plan to get there.
When I refer to a “probate case”, I am talking about any situation where someone has died and somebody is talking to me about it.
There are 3 main areas I ask questions about. Asking these questions helps me figure out what needs to be done, helps me analyze possible scenarios, and helps me decide
Many lawyers deal with Surrogate’s Court only peripherally. Considering that questions about Estates and Surrogate’s Court arise so often, it is worth knowing the basics. Here are the top 10 things worth knowing about Surrogate’s Court….
1. The Surrogate Court Clerk’s offices are broken down into departments:
– Probate (Appointment of a fiduciary when there
When I refer to a “probate case”, I am talking about any situation where someone has died and now someone else is in my office.
In these situations there are 3 main areas I ask questions about. I can’t think of a situation where these questions would not be asked. Asking these questions helps me
If a fiduciary (in NY it’s an “Administrator” if no Will and “Executor” if there is) has to file an Accounting, where should they start? What should they do?
The Answer is to know what you should have been doing all along, and if you haven’t been, get caught up as much and as quickly
Basic definition – A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other asset for another person.
When doing Wills or handling Estates, we are often talking about fiduciaries. A
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
Questions sometimes arise about where to keep a Will, and who to tell about it. In a perfect world, where families are close and people communicate openly, this would not be an issue. The person who makes a will should discuss it with his trusted family members and tell them where the will is, confident
What happens when a person dies without a Will? Contrary to popular misconception, their assets do NOT “go to the State”. When there is no will, and a person dies, the laws of intestacy apply. All States have such laws, essentially a logical order with the closest relatives inheriting. In New York, it goes like
