Probate attorneys are attorneys who have gone through years of formal training learning about probate law. Now, probate laws vary from state to state, and these laws affect the probate process of each state or county. As you may already know, when a person dies leaving an estate, probate will be done for that estate in a Surrogate Court in proximity with the estate or where the deceased domiciled. What this means is that when a person dies leaving a will and estate in 10027 New York, probate must be done in a court in 10027 New York. You therefore need a probate attorney in 10027 New York, who has in depth knowledge of the probate process in this locale. Fortunately, he is just a phone call away. The probate attorney 10027 is ready to receive and respond to your mail and phone calls, and give you the best professional assistance with your probate.
The New York probate process
In New York, probate must be carried out when a person dies leaving a will. Probate is a court-supervised procedure by which the will is validated before the instructions are carried out. If there is no will, probate will still be carried out when the decedent owned assets in his name alone. If the deed of your house, car, business, jewelry, bank account, or any other asset contains your name alone, then that asset must go through the court before it can pass on to a beneficiary.
Cases when probate will not be necessary
- Assets are held in a trust, and there is no will
- Assets are jointly owned with spouse or by joint tenancy
- Assets contain beneficiary designation e.g insurance proceeds, IRAs, POD accounts
- The estate worth less than $30,000. In this case, a small estate administration will be done instead. The small estate administration is quicker and less expensive than the normal probate.
In the absence of a will
When there is no will and assets are owned in the name of the decedent alone, probate must still be done. In this case, the court will appoint a personal representative known as an estate administrator. This person has the same fiduciary responsibilities as the executor of a will. In the absence of a will, a person can come forward to be named by the court as the personal representative of the deceased. If this is you, then you would need the legal assistance of the NYC probate attorney. He will help you in filing the necessary documents and appealing to the court to act as the fiduciary.
Intestacy
In the absence of a will, or in a case where the written will is found to be invalid (none compliant with New York testamentary laws), then the deceased is said to have died intestate. In this case, only the direct surviving family will take part in the inheritance; i.e. the spouse and kids. By New York law, the spouse will inherit the first $50,000 plus the balance of the estate, while everything else goes to the children. If there is no spouse, everything goes to the kids. If there is a spouse and no kids, everything goes to the spouse.
Duties of the personal representative during probate
The duties of the personal representative i.e. the executor or estate administrator are a bit complex. However, he must perform them with utmost professionalism and transparency to ensure that the family members are satisfied. The duties include:
- Initiating probate by taking the will and death certificate of the deceased to the probate court NY.
- Notifying the public of the commencement of the probate process.
- Identifying all assets in the estate and calculating the gross total
- Paying estate bills and taxes from the estate account, and dealing with creditors of the estate
- After all payments have been made, he then has to distribute all that is left of the estate to the beneficiaries as the will specifies. In the absence of the will, the distribution is done according to NY intestacy laws (as have been discussed).
The probate attorney 10027 is here to help you through it all
Have you been named as an executor and you feel the duties above sound very tasking and scary? You need not worry because you really do not have to go at it alone. All you need do is contact the probate attorney New York, 10027. He has made probate so simple and smooth for a plethora of personal representatives in NYC, and is ready to do the same for you. Put a call through today.
