Normally when a person dies with assets in their name alone, those become part of their estate and a fiduciary must be appointed to effectuate the transfer of those assets to a beneficiary named in a Will or to the next of kin in cases where the decedent had no will.  The matter will be […]

Probate is the legal process that takes place when someone dies and includes admitting the decedent’s Last Will and Testament (the “Will”) to court, inventorying and marshalling the estate’s property, paying the decedent’s debts and taxes, and then distributing the estate assets to the decedent’s beneficiaries as outlined in their Will. Initiating the probate process […]

Your “probate estate” is all the property you own at your death that did not pass automatically through a trust or beneficiary designation.  When you die, your estate must be administered – this is the collection and management of estate assets, paying your debts and taxes, and finally making distributions to your heirs or beneficiaries.  […]

As we discussed in prior articles, New York makes it difficult to disinherit a spouse. New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law § 5-1.1-A provides for something called the right of election which allows a surviving spouse to elect to receive a share of the estate regardless of what the Last Will and Testament might […]

A guardian ad-litem, also known as a GAL, is a person who is appointed to represent the rights and interests of a minor or incapacitated person during a legal proceeding.  This is not the same as a guardian of the person or property of a minor or incapacitated individual who is appointed to make generally […]

Probate is the process by which a will is presented in court for a judge to determine its validity, to appoint and empower an Executor with Letters Testamentary to pay off the Testator’s debts and distribute their property and possessions to their beneficiaries. The following is a sample probate timeline.  It is an approximation and […]

In New York State, if someone dies without a will, they are said to have died intestate. In such a situation, their next of kin, as defined in SCPA 1001, would petition to become the administrator of their estate. The process can takes months (and sometimes years) and all of the heirs, also known as […]

  An Ancillary probate proceeding is a proceeding in which an estate representative is appointed in a state other than the decedent’s home state (usually the state in which the decedent was domiciled). The ancillary probate proceeding is a secondary proceeding, meaning that the primary probate or administration proceeding must first be brought in the […]

  When a child is born to parents who were not married at the time (and, depending on the county, not subsequently married), they are considered a non-marital child. Inheriting from the estate of a non-marital father can be a complicated matter. Marital children benefit from the marital presumption of legitimacy – the idea that […]

When a person dies in New York State without a Last Will and Testament, New York’s intestacy law, found in EPTL 4-1.1, governs who is entitled to receive the decedent’s property (otherwise known as their estate).  The New York Estates Powers and Trust law provides an order of priority in which the decedent’s relatives may […]