If you are settling the estate of a loved one in Queens, the most common first question is simple: how much does probate cost? The honest answer is that the total cost of a Queens County Surrogate’s Court probate breaks into two distinct buckets — the court’s own filing fee, which is set by statute and graduated according to the
If a loved one in Queens has passed away and left behind modest assets, you may be able to skip full probate entirely and use a small estate affidavit — known under New York law as voluntary administration under SCPA Article 13. The short answer is this: a small estate affidavit is the faster, cheaper option for estates that qualify
Preliminary Letters Testamentary are a temporary grant of authority that the Queens County Surrogate’s Court issues to the executor named in a will under SCPA §1412, allowing that person to begin managing and protecting the estate before the full probate process is complete. In Queens — where probate of a contested or document-heavy estate can take many months — preliminary
For most families, probate in Queens County takes roughly three to six months from filing to the issuance of Letters Testamentary when the estate is uncontested and the paperwork is complete. That window covers filing the petition, securing the consent of distributees, obtaining the Surrogate’s decree, and having Letters issued so the executor can begin administering the estate. More complex
When someone dies without a will in Queens, New York’s intestacy laws — not the family — decide who inherits the estate, and the Queens County Surrogate’s Court appoints an administrator to manage it. This is called dying “intestate.” Instead of an executor named in a will receiving Letters Testamentary, a close relative must petition the court for Letters of
Short answer: New York law does not technically require you to hire a lawyer to probate a will in Queens — but in practice, the vast majority of executors should. A person who is petitioning for probate purely on their own behalf may file with the Queens County Surrogate’s Court without an attorney. However, once you are acting on behalf