Our attorneys guided our client through a complex probate puzzle that other attorneys couldn’t solve, and the result was a lucrative payout from a multi-million dollar estate. Our client came to us in a desperate state, two years and two attorneys after the death of a close friend, no closer to completing probate.
The complications were many and, to prior attorneys, insurmountable. First, the client could not find the original Will, only a copy. Second, he was only a beneficiary under the Will, not an executor, and the executor did not have the means or motivation to complete probate. Third, the deceased had a trust in another state that many said superseded the New York will. Finally, the deceased had no apparent family, which would usually require a costly investigation in New York probate proceedings.
Our attorneys tackled the challenge, quickly locating the will and distant relatives of the deceased, and eventually gaining the voluntary resignation of the belligerent executor. We also convinced the court that the out-of-state trust was revoked by the deceased, and that the New York Will beneficiaries should receive everything. The result was that the client and other beneficiaries received several million dollars.