Estate planning in New York, and probating a Last Will in Surrogate’s Court, go hand in hand. When a person engages in preparing and executing a Last Will, attention must be given to the eventuality of submitting the document to the probate process. As discussed in many posts in the New York Probate Lawyer Blog, a Will must be executed in accordance with the statutory requirements set forth in Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 3-2.1 entitled “Execution and attestation of wills; formal requirements.”
It has become more common that individuals prepare their own Will documents. Many forms of Wills are available on the internet. These can be found in legal document catalogues or through various legal document drafting services. When it comes to a Will, not only does the document need to contain specific and properly worded and organized information, the execution and signing process needs to meet statutory requirements. Thus, when self-help methods are utilized without the assistance of an attorney, the prospects for estate litigation and confusion can increase dramatically. Such was the situation in a recent Rockland County estate case entitled Matter of Estate of Tsinopoulos, which was decided by Rockland Surrogate Keith Cornell on July 17, 2020.
In Tsinopoulos, the decedent used a Will form which she completed herself without the assistance of an attorney. She then had the Will executed in her local bank, again, without the assistance of counsel. While there is no prohibition against preparing and executing a Will without an attorney, the involvement of an estate lawyer gives the execution of the document a presumption of validity. In this case, the Will left virtually all of the decedent’s assets to her daughter, which prompted the decedent’s son to file objections to the Will and engage in a Will contest.