Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

time frame of will settlement

My uncle died and his will said his estate was to be divided equally between myself and my sister. She is executrix. He died 2yrs and 3 months ago. We have not heard a thing about it. She does not speak to me. Is there a way to petition the court or is there a time limit to settle a will in NYS. The Amount is under $20,000.00. His assets were liquid and all bills and taxes paid. Can she hold this money for ever. It is sitting in an account. Can she keep it all for herself. Thankyou


Asked on 1/20/04, 3:31 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys
Brenda Mattar Mattar & D'Agostino, LLP

Re: time frame of will settlement

If your sister will not give you this information herself, you can try to contact the attorney handling the Estate and ask him/her for a status report. If you do not want to try that or are not satified with that information, I suggest that you go to the Surrogate's Court in the County where your Uncle died. Surrogate Court records are public record.

You will need his full name and date of death. The file will provide some infomation, such as if and when the Will was filed for Probate, the Petition for Probate, the Inventory of Assets, claims from creditors...

If you cannot get to the Court yourself you can hire a lawyer to research the file and contact the other lawyer for you. Your lawyer can also file a proceeding to compel your sister to file a accounting of the Estate assets and distribute the proceeds.

Please feel free to contact me @ (716) 856-4022 to discuss this matter further. I would be happy to research the Court file for you in the Western New York area.

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Answered on 1/20/04, 4:36 pm
Walter LeVine Walter D. LeVine, Esq.

Re: time frame of will settlement

Something sounds improper. This is entirely too long for such a simple estate, even if some taxes are involved. By this time the Will and estate should have been settled. I suggest you contact the attorney for the estate and demand an accounting. If you do not know who it is, you can get the information from the Probate Court in the County where your uncle resided at his death. If there is any problem, you can apply to the Probate Court to compel this and your distribution.

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Answered on 1/21/04, 1:01 am
Stephen Loeb Law Office of Stephen R. Loeb

Re: time frame of will settlement

While there is no time required time limit to settle an estate, it should not drag on indefinitely especially if everything is paid up.

You should contact your sister, or her attorney, and find out when they plan to distribute the proceeds and absent a satisfactory answer, make a motion in the probate court where the will was filed to compel distribution of the estate.

Should you like to discuss this or any other legal matter, you can call my office to schedule an appointment for a consultation or in the alternative, I can be reached for on-phone low-cost legal consultation at 1-800-275-5336 x0233699.

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Answered on 1/21/04, 8:35 am


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