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
When people refer to “cousins”, in a way that covers a variety of relationships. For family and social purposes there isn’t much difference between first cousins, second cousins and “cousins once removed. But for legal purposes when inheritances are involved, there are big differences. The distinctions arise in two particular situations:
As noted in previous posts, aunts/uncles/cousins CAN inherit, if they can disprove the prior inheritance classes (spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings/nieces/nephews) and prove their own relationship and identify and account for everyone at their inheritance level. This generally arises when the Public Administrator is filing a Accounting with the Court and refers to the cousins
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).
In this article we will review the inheritance rights of first cousins, first cousins once removed, and second cousins under New York law.
People often use the “cousin” terms loosely, as if they were interchangeable. For family and social purposes they are interchangeable, but legally they are decidedly NOT. This distinction arises in two particular
Under New York law, when a person dies without a Will, sometimes first cousins CAN inherit, subject to certain special rules.
The most significant rule is that while first cousins can inherit, generally they cannot serve as fiduciary. This job goes to the Public Administrator if the County has one (5 boros, Nassau, Suffolk and
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
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
Many lawyers deal with Surrogates Court only peripherally. Questions about Estates and Surrogates Court come up often enough that it is worth knowing the basics. Here are 10 things worth knowing, even if you never set foot in Surrogates Court.
1. The Surrogate Court Clerk’s offices are broken down into departments:
– Probate (Wills and
