If you are settling a loved one’s estate in Buffalo, the cost of probate at the Erie County Surrogate’s Court comes down to two main categories: the court filing fee, which New York law sets on a graduated scale tied to the size of the estate under SCPA §2402, and your attorney’s fee, which for an uncontested estate typically runs
If you are settling a loved one’s estate in Buffalo, the choice between a small estate affidavit and full probate comes down to two questions: how much personal property the decedent owned, and whether real estate must pass through the estate. In New York, when a person dies leaving $50,000 or less in personal property that does not pass automatically
When a loved one dies in Buffalo with a will, the named executor often cannot act immediately. Full probate takes time, and assets may need urgent attention long before the will is admitted. Preliminary letters testamentary, authorized by SCPA §1412, solve this problem: the Erie County Surrogate’s Court can grant the person named as executor in the will interim authority
For most families in Buffalo and across Erie County, an uncontested probate takes roughly three to six months from the day the petition is filed in the Erie County Surrogate’s Court to the day the executor receives Letters Testamentary and can begin acting on behalf of the estate. Full administration — collecting assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what
When someone dies without a will in Buffalo, New York, their estate does not simply pass to whomever the family chooses. Instead, the estate is settled through a court-supervised process called administration, and New York’s intestacy statute decides who inherits. The matter is handled by the Erie County Surrogate’s Court, which appoints an administrator (rather than an executor) to collect
No, New York law does not strictly require you to hire a lawyer to probate a will in Buffalo — an executor may, in theory, file a Petition for Probate in the Erie County Surrogate’s Court on their own. In practice, however, almost everyone who probates a will in Buffalo retains an attorney, and for good reason. Probate is a