Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: Assistance on my Moms sister estate?

You say "no will is being submitted for probate"

and your Mom is "next of kin." This tells me your Aunt died without a will (intestate). Your Mom should be appointed Administrator of the Estate. Contact the Surrogate Court in the county where your Aunt died and ask if a "petition for administration" has been filed under your Aunt's name. If not, fire your attorney. If so, find out who the Administrator is and contact them.

Re: Assistance on my Moms sister estate?

This is a difficult situation. It is hard to lose a sister and deal with receiving an inheritance, but then to have problems enforcing the estate makes it worse. Your mother must be distraught.

The NJ attorney should have submitted the estate to the probate/surrogates court well within 3 months. If you have the time and opportunity, actually showing up at the attorney's office may help you know why the attorney has failed in his duty (he may be ill, may be having business or personal problems that have caused him to fall behind in his work. Newly married?). If you are not satisfied, you may petition the court to have the estate probated without this attorney (petition to have him taken off the case if he is designated as the executor by the deceased or just fire him directly yourself if you are the one who hired him and inform the court he no longer represents the estate). Firing lawyers is in no way unusual. You are welcome to a consultation at my offices for no fee at 42 West 44th St, NY,NY. Please call for an apointment first -646-591-5786.

Re: Assistance on my Moms sister estate?

If there was no Will, your aunt died intestate (no Will). The closest next of kin is entitled to be appointed as administrator in the County where your aunt died. The Surrogate can assist you preparing these forms. Simply bring a death certificate to the Surrogate's office and they can prepare the forms for your mom. They can also tell your mom if anything has been filed yet. Once appointed, your mom can hire any attorney she wants to assist her. If something improper has happened, they can also advise your mon how to file documents with the court to get it corrected. I suggest contacting alocal estate attorney in the county where your aunt died to assist, unless you have someone else in mind who is licensed to practice there.