Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: Appointing a Guardian?

My guess is that a guardian ad litem will be appointed to protect you mother's interests. This is in connection with the probate of the Will and for no other purpose.

Someone must have disclosed your mother's mild dementia. If it is very mild it would not be neccesary to appoint the guardian. You or a lawyer,armed with medical opinions, can explain the issue to the Surrogate. There is a cost associated with a guardian.

Re: Appointing a Guardian?

Supplementing Norman's response. Was an alternate or successor executor other than your mother named in the Will being probated? The POA may not be acceptable to the Surrogate to allow you to handle the affairs for your mother, unless the Will specifically authorizes someone to act under a POA for an executor (probably not mentioned). Therefor, to avoid further possible litigation with a GAL appointed for your mother unless you can show, in a manner acceptable to the Court, that she is capable of handling these matters herself, I suggest that an application be made for the appointment of the successor executor. Hopefully the Will designated you to succeed your mother should she have passed away or become incapacitated during her term of appointment. You do not say how large the probate estate (that part of your father's assets governed by the Will, not assets jointly registered or having a designated beneficiary, which are not subject to probate) is or what it consists of. If the probate estate is of some size, and no successor executor was named in the Will, the political situation may come into play either because you are not resident in NY (which may be a requirement even though you are an immediate family member - this should be checked), or because NY courts like to generate fees to their favored attorneys. I would need more information to give you a better answer than the remarks set forth herein. If you'd like, contact me directly and we can discuss this.