TRUST & ESTATE LITIGATION

Representing Beneficiaries & Trustees in New York

For trust and estate litigation matters, you want aggressive and experienced representation. Fattore Law provides experienced representation for executors, trustees and beneficiaries of estates exceeding $250,000.

We can provide you with sophisticated service on a variety of trust and estate litigation matters including:

Estate Claims; Real Property Title Disputes (NY RPAPL Art.15); Representation of Trustees and Beneficiaries; Challenging/Contesting Wills; Spousal Right of Election; Breaches of Fiduciary Duties; Removal of Fiduciaries; Contested Accountings; MHL Article 81 Adult Guardianship Proceedings; Power of Attorney Abuse

Trust Disputes

Resolving Issues Between Beneficiaries & Trustees in New York

Fattore Law can assist you in contesting a trust in New York. Before filing a petition to the court, we will perform a detailed review of your situation and claims.

After the creator of a trust has passed away, you may contest provisions of the trust, a failure to include one or more heirs, or possibly the entirety of the trust. In such cases, the New York Surrogate Court has jurisdiction to determine whether the dispute is valid regarding both revocable and non-revocable trusts.

Common Reasons to Dispute A Trust

To challenge a trust, you must be a beneficiary and have a financial interest in the trust or stand to inherit part of the creator’s assets under intestacy laws. When we evaluate your interest in disputing the trust, we will check whether the trust contains a no-contest clause. If there is one, challenging the trust may put your current inheritance at risk. When contesting a revocable trust, a court normally applies contest standards. Since New York courts consider revocable trusts as will substitutes, they can use the same standards.

One of the two main grounds to dispute a revocable trust is lack of capacity, where the creator of the trust was not able to fully understand how the trust was set up and what their assets and distribution involved. The other primary ground to contest a revocable trust is undue influence, where the contestant seeks to prove that another beneficiary influenced the trust maker on how to set the trust and divide property.

How to Challenge an Irrevocable Trust

The courts usually apply contract standards if you contest an irrevocable trust. This requires proving that the creator of the trust did not have the mental capacity to understand what the contract terms involved and their consequences.

It is more difficult to dispute an irrevocable trust on the basis of undue influence as courts normally do not consider this in contract law.

The Trust Dispute Process

The first step in disputing a trust is finding grounds for the contest. We will help you determine what yours are. We gather appropriate documents such as medical records and witness testimonies before initiating the trust contest proceeding.

We then enter mediation in order to achieve an agreement between all interested parties. If this method is unsuccessful, we file a trust contest proceeding to the New York Surrogate Court. Under New York law, you must file the petition with the Court within six years following the death of the trust’s creator.

Contest a Will - Will Disputes in New York

Fattore Law can provide legal counsel if you are looking to contest a will in New York. We will evaluate your situation and the grounds upon which you can file a formal objection, including documents about the deceased person’s finances and medical status.

Under New York’s laws, only specific individuals have the ability to challenge the probate of a will. They must have a financial interest and be adversely affected by it.

The pursuant must be the deceased person’s heir, also known as a distributee, such as a spouse, child, sibling, or a beneficiary under a prior will. In either case, the individual seeking to contest the will would inherit less if the current will is enforced.

Grounds to Contest a Will

To challenge a will in New York, the person must have grounds, reasons based on the law, that would invalidate the will and prevent it from being admitted to probate. It can be difficult to prove certain grounds and they may hinge on the actions of various individuals, including the person who signed the will (testator), a beneficiary, or another person who may have exerted fraud or undue influence over the testator. Any will challenge requires in-depth investigation and careful review of documentation.

Common grounds to challenge a Will in New York include:

Improper execution: The will does not meet legal requirements such as a lack of witnesses present during the signature, or either the witnesses or the testator didn’t sign the document.

Undue influence: This often happens in a situation where an individual persuades the testator to change the will in their favor at the expense of relatives and other beneficiaries. An individual may also argue that the testator signed their will under duress due to extreme pressure from someone else.

Lack of testamentary capacity: This means that the testator lacked a general understanding of their assets, their family members, and what their will entails, for health reasons.

Fraud: The individual arguing the will is a product of fraud must present clear and convincing evidence, such as proving that the testator believed they were signing another legal document, such as a Power of Attorney, when they signed a will.

Revocation: The person contesting the will aims to prove that the will submitted to probate is not the last or most current will. In New York the testator can revoke a will or direct someone to do this during their lifetime. To revoke a will, the testator can either sign a new one, destroy the current one, or set in writing their clear intention to revoke it.

If a will challenge is successful, the judge may deem all or parts of the will invalid. The court will divide the deceased’s property and assets as they see fit according to New York’s law of intestacy.

We also need a copy of the attorney’s file who established the will. The process also involves you asking questions under oath to the attorney in New York who created the will and possibly witnesses to the will.

Contested Accounting

Superior Probate Litigation

A contested accounting occurs when an executor of an estate or trustee of a trust is not forthcoming with information about the estate they represent. 

If you are a beneficiary or other interested party, you have the right to force the executor/trustee to provide you with an accounting of all the financial details of the estate. An accounting, if Ordered by the Court to be provided, must comply with the rules and requirements set forth under New York State Law. We will provide you with outstanding representation in these types of matters, especially where an executor may be attempting to hide certain financial information from the beneficiaries.