Manhattan Estate Litigation

Manhattan is one of five boroughs in New York City. Although it’s only 23 square miles, it has an estimated population of 1.63 million people, making it the most densely inhabited of the five boroughs in New York. Home to Broadway, Wall Street, Central Park, the Empire State Building, and many other worldwide attractions, Manhattan attracts many tourists as well as lifelong residents. If your loved one dies in Manhattan and you disagree with how his estate is administered or with some aspect of the probate process, you may become involved in estate litigation. Estate litigation can include a variety of lawsuits including probate litigation, kinship hearings, will contests, challenges to the validity of trusts, disagreements about how a will should be interpreted, estate administration, accounting disputes, requests to remove a trustee or fiduciary, and other controversies regarding an estate. Manhattan estate litigation attorney Jules Haas can assist parties with disputes of this nature. He represents fiduciaries, spouses, next of kin, executors, estate representatives, and others.

Estate litigation can include will contests in which the validity of a will is disputed. Some common grounds to challenge wills include undue influence upon the testator, improper execution, forgery, or incompetence of the testator when making the will. When there’s ambiguity in the will, will construction proceedings may be appropriate. Similarly, trust litigation may be appropriate to challenge a trust’s construction, the validity of the trust, or a trustee’s actions.

Estate litigation can involve accounting proceedings. These are proceedings to defend or challenge accounting procedures in the management of a trust or estate, or to deal with tax or investment issues. Where there is misconduct, incompetence, or breach of fiduciary duty in the administration of a trust or estate, fiduciary removal proceedings may be brought to remove an executor, trustee, conservator, or guardian. Kinship proceedings may be appropriate to look into the inheritance rights of people who claim to be relatives. An estate litigation lawyer serving Manhattan can assist with these proceedings.

Probate occurs when a decedent’s last will and testament goes through proceedings in Surrogate’s Court. The decedent’s estate will be disposed of according to a decedent’s will. The probate process may be contested through litigation where those who have an interest in the disposal of a decedent’s estate believe their rights were trampled upon. The testamentary document itself can be challenged for a variety of reasons. For example, where a child is disinherited in favor of a caregiver, the child may bring a will contest for undue influence. Sometimes a fiduciary’s performance is questioned through probate litigation.

The Surrogate’s Court has jurisdiction over estate administration in New York. Estate administration is the process whereby a decedent’s estate is disposed of when the decedent has not left a valid last will and testament. A decedent’s estate is the legal entity that exists to hold rights, assets, or obligations of the decedent. One or more people can be appointed by the court to act on the estate’s behalf. A decedent’s assets may not pass to the estate in their entirety and there is a distinction between the estate and the taxable estate.

Often an estate or trust is complex, and administration of it demands understanding how to invest and manage various kinds of assets. Administration also requires a trustee or executor to understand the goals of the person who established the trust or whose estate is involved. Sometimes beneficiaries of an estate or trust notice they are experiencing losses that seem to arise from mismanagement of the estate or trust, and they want to hold the executor or trustee accountable. The executor or trustee is supposed to keep an account of all the assets, income, investment gains, investment losses, expenses, and distributions that have been made, and an accounting should be provided to a beneficiary who asks for it. Where a beneficiary thinks the account is wrong or the losses are based on mismanagement, he or she may take action. Objections to the account can be filed. The executor or trustee can be charged for losses and may be required to repay the estate. A seasoned Manhattan estate litigation attorney can advise you as to whether you have a valid claim of this nature.

If somebody dies intestate and is survived by a distant relative such as a cousin, the survivor has the burden of establishing kinship with the decedent in a kinship proceeding. Often a survivor must also show there are no other surviving heirs with a greater right to inherit the decedent’s assets. The survivor will need to prove: they had a relationship to the decedent, there’s nobody with a closer degree of consanguinity, and how many people have the same degree of consanguinity to the decedent. A survivor’s relationship to the decedent can be met by offering certified records and witness testimony. Next of kin need to produce birth certificates for all the decedent’s relatives on the same side of lineage and death certificates for deceased family members on the same side of lineage. Cousin cases are very common.

Jules Haas has worked hard for more than thirty-five years representing clients in and around Manhattan in estate planning, litigation, and related matters. Whether you want to bring a will contest or you need representation for an accounting based on a fiduciary’s mismanagement of an estate, call Jules Haas at (212) 355-2575 or contact us through our online form. We provide reasonable and flexible fee arrangements and represent clients throughout the U.S. in New York cases. Call for a free review.