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 […]

Real property is a common estate asset. If you are the next of kin or proposed executor or administrator of a loved one’s estate, you may be charged with selling a parcel of real property. This article will give an overview of the process and propose a couple of ways to expedite it in order […]

Living trusts are a much talked about topic in the field of estate planning, and for good reason. You may have heard financial planners or attorneys mention these trusts as a “must have” item in your planning portfolio but may be confused as to what a living trust really is, what it accomplishes, and most […]

When a person passes away leaving assets in their own name, their heirs generally have to go through probate or an administration proceeding to transfer those assets. Sometimes, however, the value of the assets is so small that it is not cost effective to bring these proceedings. In those cases, New York allows the heirs […]

When serving as the Administrator or Executor of a loved one’s estate, the Surrogate’s Court may require you to obtain something called an bond. An Administrator Bond or Executor Bond is similar to an insurance policy for the creditor and beneficiaries of the estate that will protect them in the event that the Executor or […]