If you are settling the estate of a Bronx resident, the cost to probate a will in Bronx County Surrogate’s Court comes down to two main numbers: a graduated court filing fee tied to the size of the estate (set by SCPA §2402) and attorney’s fees, which for a typical uncontested probate generally run between roughly $3,000 and $10,000. The
When a loved one dies in the Bronx, the path to settling their estate usually comes down to one threshold question: does the estate qualify for a small estate affidavit (called voluntary administration under New York law), or does it require full probate at the Bronx County Surrogate’s Court? The short answer is this: if the decedent left personal property
Preliminary letters testamentary are a court order that gives a named executor the legal authority to begin managing a Bronx estate before the full probate proceeding is complete. In Bronx County, you obtain them by petitioning the Bronx County Surrogate’s Court under SCPA §1412, and once granted, the preliminary executor can act on behalf of the estate while the will
In Bronx County, an uncontested probate typically takes three to six months from the day you file the petition in the Bronx County Surrogate’s Court to the day the executor receives Letters Testamentary and can begin distributing the estate. That is the short answer. The longer answer depends on how quickly the will’s beneficiaries sign their waivers, whether anyone files
When someone dies without a will in the Bronx, New York’s intestacy laws — not the deceased’s wishes — decide who inherits, and the Bronx County Surrogate’s Court appoints a family member to settle the estate. This person is called an administrator (rather than an executor, who would be named in a will), and the court grants their legal authority
You are not legally required to hire a lawyer to probate a will in the Bronx, but in practice almost everyone serving as an executor should. New York does not mandate counsel for an individual petitioner, yet the Bronx County Surrogate’s Court enforces the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) and the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) to the letter.