Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

finding a copy of a will

While I'm not licensed in NY, and therefore am not giving legal advice on any matter there, I would bet money that just as in every other state, once a will has been probated all you have to do is go to the clerk's office of the court that handled the probate of the will and have them pull the will from their files so you can make a copy -- they are public records.

Finding a copy of a "proved" will

I'm licensed only in California, but the states I know of, including California, follow this procedure: once a will is admitted to probate (proved), a copy of it is placed in the probate court's file, which is public record.

Thus, to find the will, try the court's records office for the county where the probate would have been filed (the county where the deceased ("decedent") lived when he/she passed away, or the county where real estate owned by the decedent was located, if the decedent lived in another state). In California, the probates are indexed by the name of the decedent, so you would start with the year in which the will was proved (1980 or 1981), and look for the probate case number under the decedent's name.

Once you've found the probate case number, the records office can locate the file, which will contain a copy of the decedent's will.

Finding a copy of a will

I am a NY lawyer. The previous replies were generally correct.If the will in question was admitted toprobate, the original will is retained in a file at the Surrogate's Court in the county in which the probate proceedingwas commenced. This is usually the county in which the decedent resided.If you tell me the county of the decedent's death, I can give you more information.

Copy of a Probated Will

In my state (NC) you would call or write the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the will was probated and ask them how to get a copy of the probated will. If you are close by, you could go by and talk to someone in the Clerk's office (if it were in NC). They will most likely charge some sort of fee for the copy, which you may have to pay in cash. A plain photocopy may be cheaper than a certified copy.