Estate Administration Attorney

What Does An Estate Administration Attorney in New York City Do?

When a person dies, his or her assets must be collected, managed, and distributed. Typically an Administrator or Executor needs to be appointed to perform these tasks. An estate administration attorney will represent a client to obtain his or her appointment as Administrator or Executor.

A New York City estate administration attorney knows that it is important at the beginning of an estate administration to obtain as much information concerning the decedent as possible. Typically I ask a client who is applying to become the estate fiduciary to bring for review all the papers that are available regarding the estate. These papers include past income tax returns, bank statements, brokerage account reports, bills such as credit card debts and medical bills, mortgage bills, deeds, retirement fund items and life insurance papers. The preparation of the appropriate forms for the Surrogate’s Court is expedited and made more complete for having all of these items available for review.

The estate attorney typically prepares all of the Court papers for the proposed Executor or Administrator to review and then file them with the Court after they are approved and signed by the client. This process can be expedited if all of the necessary information is quickly located. The Surrogate’s Court review of complete and accurate papers can then lead to the probate of a Will or grant an appointment of an administrator in an intestate estate. In estate cases, the court wants to have an original certified copy of the decedent’s death certificate. Also, in Probate matters and Intestate Administration filings, there needs to be a petition. The petition, whether it is a Probate Petition or Petition for Letters of Administration, needs to contain information such as the names and addresses of the decedent’s next of kin. Also, the petition must specify the established value of the property which constitutes the estate. There are additional papers that may be needed. These can include a Kinship Affidavit or a Bond Affidavit that list the various outstanding debts such as funeral expenses, medical bills and credit card bills.

The estate administration attorney will then continue to represent the Executor or Administrator with respect to such duties as collecting assets and obtaining appraisals as required, filing inventories in a timely manner; paying creditors; filing estate and income tax returns and paying taxes, if any; distributing remaining assets to beneficiaries and finally closing the estate by filing a final account. Many of these tasks require that the estate attorney provide third parties with documents and authorizations properly signed by the fiduciary as well as certified copies of Letters of Testamentary and Letters of Administration.

Additional services that the estate fiduciary can benefit from is assistance with obtaining a proper tax identification number and opening an estate bank account for the deposit of estate assets.

As a New York City estate administration lawyer, I have many years of experience serving clients throughout New York. I have represented many clients in matters of probate, fiduciary appointment and estate administration. I work closely with my clients to efficiently perform and complete the entire estate administration process. I graduated in the top 10% of my class at The New England School of Law in Boston and served on the prestigious “Law Review.” I have been an attorney at law in my own law practice in New York City since 1985.

To contact me regarding any questions or concerns call (212) 355-2575 or e-mail for a free appointment with an estate administration lawyer in New York City.