The Law Offices of Roman Aminov has been providing NYC residents with award-winning probate and estate administration services tailored to our clients' needs.
Celebrated for extensive experience guiding New York families through Surrogate's Court proceedings involving mortgaged homes and other complex real estate, with hundreds of heartfelt client testimonials, Roman Aminov delivers thoughtful, individualized solutions to our clients' needs and wishes.
By Roman Aminov,
Probate Gets Harder When a Home Loan Is Still on the Table
Most New York estates we see include at least one piece of real estate, and most of those properties still carry a mortgage, a home equity line, or a reverse mortgage. That single fact quietly reshapes the entire probate timeline. Every month the loan keeps running, escrow keeps pulling taxes and insurance, and the servicer keeps looking for someone to talk to. Our team steps in as that someone. We handle communications with lenders, line up the documentation servicers demand from successors in interest, and keep payments on track while the Surrogate's Court works through appointment, accounting, and distribution.
What We Handle on Behalf of New York Executors and Heirs
From our Union Turnpike office, we regularly represent families across Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau, and Suffolk in estates where the home is the largest asset. No two situations look exactly the same. Sometimes the surviving spouse needs to stay in the house under the original low-rate loan. Sometimes three siblings cannot agree on whether to sell or assume. Sometimes a reverse mortgage is accelerating and the clock is measured in weeks, not months. Our job is to read the situation clearly, explain the trade-offs in plain English, and move quickly inside the Surrogate's Court and with the loan servicer at the same time.
Why Families Bring These Cases to Us
Probate involving a mortgaged home rewards experience, not guesswork. Lenders have their own timelines, the CFPB successor-in-interest rules have technical notice and documentation requirements, and New York's seven-month creditor window under the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act shapes when distributions can safely happen. Missing any of those beats can cost the estate real money or expose the executor personally. When clients hire us, they get a firm that has run this playbook hundreds of times.
Here is what working with our team looks like in practice.
- Rapid Lender Engagement: We notify the servicer, establish the estate's authority, and lock in successor-in-interest status so information flows immediately.
- Garn-St. Germain Positioning: We document the inheritance in the way federal law requires, preserving the heir's right to keep the existing loan without refinance.
- Payment and Escrow Strategy: We help the executor decide whether estate funds, rental income, or a beneficiary cover monthly payments through administration.
- Deed and Title Coordination: We prepare executor's deeds, confirmatory deeds, and title transfers that satisfy both the court and the future title insurer.
- Sale or Refinance Execution: When the plan calls for selling or refinancing, we manage the Surrogate's Court approvals, contract review, and closing coordination.
Guidance That Holds Up Under Pressure
Families rarely come to us on a calm Tuesday. They come when a foreclosure letter has arrived, when a sibling has changed the locks, or when Medicaid has filed a claim against the estate. Our approach is steady. We build a written plan for the mortgage, the court filings, and any creditor issues, and we revisit it at each milestone. That structure keeps emotions from driving financial decisions, and it keeps lenders working with the estate rather than around it.
Protecting Surviving Spouses and Inheriting Children
New York's elective share rules, combined with the Garn-St. Germain protections for spouses and children, give surviving family members meaningful leverage even when the will is imperfect or missing. We routinely help a surviving spouse stay in the home under the original mortgage terms, assist adult children in assuming a parent's loan, and structure transfers that avoid triggering a due-on-sale demand. When planning is possible before death, we also help families redesign ownership so probate is shorter and the mortgage transitions more smoothly.
A Queens Firm With a Statewide Practice
We live and work in Queens, and our Union Turnpike office is minutes from the Queens County Surrogate's Court. That proximity matters. We know the clerks, the standing procedures, and the practical rhythms that keep cases moving. At the same time, we appear in Surrogate's Courts across New York City and Long Island, and we coordinate with out-of-state counsel when property sits outside New York.
Call Before the Mortgage Starts Driving the Estate
The earlier a family brings us in, the more options stay on the table. Before the first missed payment, before the servicer refers the file to foreclosure counsel, before a frustrated heir signs something they should not. One conversation usually clarifies what needs to happen this week, this month, and this quarter.
Visit us at https://www.aminovlaw.com/ or call us at 347-766-2685 to get your free consultation.
