Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

I recently filed for Successor Executorship, when my sister no longer wanted to serve. Having been named in my Uncle's Will, as Successor, in the event that my sister could no longer serve, I organized and completed all necessary paperwork and filed the documents with the NYC Surrogate Court, in June. Since then, I have called to get updates on the status of my case but have been told that I have to be patient, as the court is backed up in its paperwork. Now, the year is almost over and I have not been able to continue the work of dealing with my Uncle's estate which, is very complex because of my Uncle's lack of transparency in his financial dealings and the fact that his Will is very general, with no details as to the full scope of his estate, even though he left everything to my Mom who, was like a 2nd mother to him.

Would I be able to get legal assistance from a Lawyer, to expedite my paperwork with the Surrogate Court and, if this is possible, how much would this service cost?

Thank you!


Asked on 12/03/19, 1:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Bryan Richard Bryan Attorney PC

That's a good question. Congratulations for getting so far by yourself without a lawyer. Typically lawyers don't like to get involved in the middle of a case, because you never know what happened in the past which might come back to bite you in the butt. Once a lawyer gets involved in a case typically they're on the hook for everything that happened. Lawyers, and most all professionals, are supposed to go through "due diligence" before taking a case, and that can't be done without reviewing the whole file. Most lawyers I suspect would take a pass at getting involved here. No one provides the "service" you're looking for to expedite your paperwork. Good for you and your sister to get this far without a lawyer. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned, and now you're going to need to spend the money to bring a lawyer on board to get the case moving. Almost certainly the file is incomplete. Plus lawyers aren't allowed to quote fees publicly. I'd ask for a hefty upfront fee to review the file and discuss the case with you to get up to speed, and the hourly going forward.

Good luck.

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Answered on 12/03/19, 4:22 pm


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