June 24

Small Administration in New York

Probate or Estate Administration in New York is a sometimes necessary, sometimes unnecessary, costly affair. There is an exception though.

In New York this is known as the small estate administration. This is a simplified court procedure for the estate of a person who died, but who did not have many assets. The court, and more specifically, the Surrogate’s court, gives away the property of the decedent (the person who died) to the person or people who had a legal right to inherit. Please take note that if the decedent owned real property soley in his or her own name, the estate may not take advantage of this program. If the decedent owned real property jointly and you don’t plan on selling it, you may take advantage of the program as long the estate is under either $20,000 or $30,000.

To qualify for the program, the decedent must have had $20,000 or less in personal property if they passed away between August 29, 1996 and December 31, 2008 or $30,000 or less in personal property if they passed away after January 1, 2009.

The next step is to file a form known as the “Affidavit of Voluntary Administration,” also known as the “small estate affidavit.” Luckily for you, this is now done online.
Before you begin, you will need to gather:

1) The name and address of the person who died (also called “the decedent”)

2) A certified copy of the death certificate

3) The name and address of the decedent’s husband or wife, children, and grandchildren.
If the decedent did not have a husband or wife, children or grandchildren, the name and address of the decedent’s father and mother.
If the decedent’s parents are no longer living, the name and address of the decedent’s siblings.
If the decedent’s siblings are no longer living, then the name and address of the siblings’ children.
If none of the above family members of the decedent are living, then the name and address of any aunt or uncle of the decedent.

4) The original Will, if the decedent had a Will, and the names and addresses of people mentioned in the Will.

5) If the decedent had assets, the value of each asset. You will need account numbers and serial numbers of assets. Assets may include the following: bank accounts (not joint accounts), investment accounts, insurance policies, and cars and boats

6) The decedent’s unpaid creditors. This may include the following: credit card bills, utility bills, and funeral expenses

Click this link to get to work: https://lawhelpinteractive.org/login_form?template_id=template.2009-05-14.8486845559&set_language=en

Of course if you need help with this process, have any questions, or do not qualify for the exception, call or email me and we’ll get through the probate process together.

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April 24

Minor Name Changes in New York

Minor Name Change in New York

Minor name change petitions in the state of New York, outside of New York City, are remarkably different than changing an adult name. I have previously written an extensive post about changing an adult name, but I wanted to get a little information out there on minor or infant name changes.

First, be prepared that both parents must give consent to the application. This is not as easy as it seems. In a world where over fifty percent of parents are divorced, sometimes a seemingly straightforward issue like changing your child’s name becomes full of angst. There’s no easy pill to resolve this usually except for communication and compassion, so a good relationship with your child’s mother or father is almost always a good idea.

A remedy for lack of consent and a dismissal of the publication aspect does exist, but a judge will usually not issue it without good cause. Usually it is reserved for someone who is currently in real harm and a consent or publication would put them in further harm. So although this option exists, it will probably not apply to you. I know of one case where a parent’s consent would not be given by an imprisoned father and the court denied the application for the name change on the argument that the father wanted to be good dad upon getting out of jail and that a name change would inhibit that ability.

As always, feel free to contact me with any further questions.

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