By Roman Aminov,
Celebrated for extensive experience guiding New York executors and families through Surrogate's Court and the orderly settlement of estates, with hundreds of heartfelt client testimonials, Roman Aminov delivers thoughtful, individualized solutions to our clients' needs and wishes.
Few people feel ready the moment they're handed an estate to settle. There is a will to validate, a court to satisfy, creditors who surface at awkward times, and relatives watching every move. Estate administration is the structured work of turning a person's affairs into an orderly transfer of what they owned, and in New York that work runs through the Surrogate's Court in the county where the decedent lived. Families across Queens and the wider city have leaned on our team to carry that weight, and the process rewards preparation far more than guesswork.
Nothing gets distributed until an executor is formally empowered. The named executor files the original will and a certified death certificate with the Surrogate's Court, then petitions for letters testamentary, the document that proves the authority to act on the estate's behalf. After that, the duties stack up quickly. Assets must be located and secured, legitimate debts and taxes paid, final returns filed, and only the remainder distributed to the people the will names. When there is no will, the matter becomes an administration proceeding and the court appoints an administrator, though the core obligations look nearly identical.
The margin for error here is thinner than most people expect. An executor who pays beneficiaries too soon, misses a creditor, or misjudges how an asset passes can wind up personally on the hook. Bringing in counsel early keeps each step defensible and the fiduciary protected.
Not everything a person owned flows through the will. Jointly held bank accounts, payable-on-death designations, retirement plans, and life insurance often pass straight to a survivor or named beneficiary, sitting entirely outside the executor's control. That sounds tidy until a debt needs paying or an estate tax bill arrives, because some of those same accounts can still be pulled back into the calculation. Figuring out what truly belongs to the estate and what does not is one of the more misunderstood corners of the job, and it is exactly where seasoned guidance earns its keep. Our office helps executors map every account before a single distribution goes out the door.
We see our role as removing the uncertainty from a job most people take on only once. That means handling the Surrogate's Court filings, advising on the order debts and taxes get paid, coordinating appraisals and tax returns, and stepping in when a beneficiary disputes a decision. Where a contested account or a missing asset threatens to stall the estate, we know how to use the court's tools to move things forward.
A few areas where focused help tends to matter most.
The executors who struggle most are usually the ones who navigate Surrogate's Court alone and only reach out once something has already gone wrong. A short conversation at the start can spare months of cleanup later. If you have been named to settle an estate, or you have lost someone and aren't sure where to begin, that first call costs you nothing and often changes the entire trajectory of the process.
Visit us at https://www.aminovlaw.com/ or call us at (347) 766-2685 to get your free consultation.
