A probate proceeding is a proceeding brought to see to it that a Will is accepted as being valid by the Surrogate Court in New York State. The best way to start a probate proceeding is to visit several attorneys and hire an experienced, dedicated estate lawyer. Make sure when you hire this lawyer, that he or she has been doing this for a minimum of ten years and has handled numerous estate matters.
There are a variety of documents which are necessary to assist the attorney in bringing the probate proceeding. The following are a list of some of these items:
- The original Will. The original Will, not a photocopy of the original Will, should be brought to your attorney’s office.
- Your attorney will need several original raised seal death certificates. It is suggested, depending on the size of the estate, that you receive a minimum of six, and if there are a number of different bank accounts or securities accounts involved, twelve original death certificates may be helpful.
- You need to bring with you, when you go to your attorney’s office, a copy of a funeral bill indicating it is paid. Funeral directors have a very strong lobbying group in Albany, and estates cannot be processed unless you show the funeral bill has been paid.
- You need to provide the attorney with the names and addresses of all of the individuals who are next of kin as well as all the individuals named as beneficiaries in the will.
- In the event there are minor children involved, the attorney will need to know their names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers and the names and addresses of their legal guardians.
- If you are familiar with the assets of the decedent it is very important you provide the attorney with an itemized list documenting each and every one of the assets the decedent died owning.
If you provide the attorney you hire with all of the necessary information and documents, the estate proceeding will move forward without problems. This can also reduce your legal expenses and the time it takes for the Will to be probated.
It should be noted that once a Will is probated, distribution of the assets is not supposed to take place for a period of seven months. This gives creditors a reasonable period of time to file claims against the estate.
