Suffolk County Probate Lawyer

Experienced Suffolk County Probate Lawyer

Numerous matters must be addressed after a person’s death. Often this falls on his or her family to sort through. The intricacies of probate can be difficult to manage while you are also in the process of grieving and winding down a loved one’s other affairs. As a layperson who is an heir, beneficiary, trustee, executor or other interested party, you may not understand what probate entails. It’s important to seek advice, counsel and representation from trustworthy Suffolk County probate lawyer Jules Haas, who has over 40 years of experience. 

Probate in Suffolk County Surrogate’s Court

In Suffolk County, the Surrogate’s Court oversees probate, the process whereby a decedent’s estate is distributed according to his or her will when the decedent was living in Suffolk County at the time or his or her death. The process commences when the executor named in the will files a petition with the court, as well as the will. The petition must include certain information such as the date the decedent died, the beneficiaries named in the will, heirs-at-law in the event the will is not valid, and an estimate of the value of the decedent’s estate. All interested parties must be given notice of the probate proceeding.

A commission may be paid to the executor based on a statutory law percentage. Executors have significant duties like locating and inventorying all of a decedent’s property and transferring it to the estate; paying bills and taxes; collecting any debts that the estate is owed; investing and managing assets while probate is underway; and distributing the assets at the end of the process. 

Once the petition is filed, the court provides the executor with authority to manage the process by issuing “letters testamentary.” When there is no will, “letters of administration” will be issued to an appointed administrator who will distribute assets according to the rules of intestacy. 

Probate is intended to ensure that the decedent’s wishes about how his or her property should be distributed are followed after their death and their financial obligations are met. It’s a carefully structured process in which the court makes sure the will is validated and that an executor is appointed to manage the estate, pay off debts and taxes, and distribute property according to a valid will’s terms. In the course of probating a will, the Surrogate must make sure the will is valid. However, in some cases, interested parties challenge the validity of the will, bringing what’s called a will contest. 

Will Contests During Probate

Authorized persons who are impacted by a will can challenge it during probate with a will contest. Grounds to challenge a will include lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, failure to follow formalities, duress, fraud, and mistake. For example, a contestant could claim that the will includes a mistake that the Suffolk County Surrogate’s Court should address or use as the basis for finding that the will is invalid; mistake could involve a testator not realizing how much property was owned and thereby not distributing all of it in the will. For another example, the testator’s child could contest the will on the grounds that the testator’s stepchildren falsely claimed that she had abandoned him. If it’s believed that someone else forged the testator’s signature on a will, this can also be a basis for challenging the will.

Call a Suffolk County Probate Attorney 

Probate can be a challenging experience for all parties involved. Important legal duties are created in the course of probate, such as an executor’s obligations to handle the process according to the law. If you are concerned about probate, you should call experienced Suffolk County probate lawyer Jules Haas who can bring to bear more than four decades of experience on your case. He also handles estate planning, trusts, guardianship proceedings, and other Surrogate’s court cases. Contact Mr. Haas through our online form or call him at (212) 355-2575 for a free consultation.