The can be a complex and stressful one. The probate lawyer Suffolk will even agree that being an executor or administrator can be a lot to handle. While trying to deal with the grief of losing a loved one, you’d have to initiate probate, go to court often and think about how to distribute the estate property to the beneficiaries named in the will. This is a crucial and delicate task, one that requires the efficient assistance of the probate lawyer.
The probate lawyer Suffolk will help you, being the executor, to determine estate heirs, creditors and taxes, and how to distribute the estate assets to the heirs. Even as a potential beneficiary, you may be in a precarious position due to the dictates of the will or the intestacy laws of NY state, as you’ll better understand when you speak with the probate lawyer. To ensure your best interests are protected, contact the probate lawyer Suffolk.
Carrying out your estate administration duties
As an executor or administrator, you are expected to perform the following tasks:
- Determining and appraising all personal and real estate property of the deceased;
- Liquidating the assets of the estate;
- Opening an estate bank account from which bills and expenses will be paid, and to which liquidated assets will be kept;
- Consulting with a probate lawyer Suffolk;
- Filing several paperworks as directed by your probate lawyer;
- Investing and managing the assets all through probate proceeding;
- Finally distributing the assets to the heirs before closing the estate.
Probate deadline
There is no deadline for starting probate in Suffolk. However, if a potential beneficiary suffers financially due to delay, the executor may be penalized for not initiating probate on time.
Probating smaller estates
The executor may use simpler legal process to administer the estate, so long the estate meets the following requirements:
- The deceased didn’t have any real estate to his name;
- The estate doesn’t value up to $30,000;
- There’s no lawsuit regarding the death of the deceased.
Important issues to clarify with your probate lawyer
What is Power of Attorney
This is a legal document which may be drafted by your probate lawyer Suffolk, that transfers authority over an estate from one person to another. The Power of Attorney grants the holder to act on the maker’s behalf. The level of authority granted by this document depends on the specifications written in the document, which ranges from ambiguous to very specific instructions. The Power of Attorney can grant someone else the authority to act on behalf of the executor, to sell a house, furniture or any other estate property belonging to the decedent, make decisions, sign documents and handle important financial decisions on behalf of the executor. The recipient of the Power of Attorney is known as the Attorney-in-fact, and he is actually not the probate lawyer.
Will Contests
A will can be contested by any concerned party that feels dissatisfied with the contents of the will. It is legal to contest a will during probate. Wills can be contested due to a number of reasons; A party may purport the will to have been written at a time when the testator was of an unsound mind, or probably under duress by another mischievous party. Also, another will may have been discovered and purported to be the actual last will of the decedent. When cases like these come up, the dissatisfied party may choose to hire a probate or estate lawyer to prove their claim in a law court. As an estate administrator, you can get caught up in the middle when family members go head-to-head to in this kind of cases.
As a beneficiary, you may have cogent reasons to feel that the executor has been incompetent, negligent or fraudulent in carrying out his fiduciary duties. The wrongdoing of an executor can be ideally questioned by the probate lawyer Suffolk, and if guilty of the charges, will be asked by the court to pay compensation or even relieved of his duties.
The probate lawyer Suffolk renders assistance to the surviving loved ones of a deceased person in Suffolk. The areas of their probate practices include:
- Probating the will;
- Contesting the will;
- Estate administration;
- Ensuring the fiduciary duties of the administrator are effectively carried out?
- Determining kinship ties with the deceased;
- Administration of a trust;
- Removing an executor if he proves incompetent, negligent, or fraudulent;
- Spousal rights of elections against estates.
The goal of the probate lawyer Suffolk is to provide outstanding and prompt services to his clients in every corners of Suffolk at reasonable fees. Contact the probate lawyer today.