Free New York forms for planning an estate or settling one: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed, and the probate forms an executor files.
In New York, a will is signed before 2EPTL § 3-2.1Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyEPTL § 3-2.1Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.
New York requires 2NY PHL § 2981(5)(d)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses for a healthcare power of attorney; notarization is not requiredNY PHL § 2981(5)(d)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source.
New York treats a power of attorney as durable by defaultNY GOL §§ 5-1501, 5-1501A, 5-1501B, 5-1502A through 5-1502N, 5-1504, 5-1512, 5-1513Verified Sep 18, 2026View source, and it is signed before 2NY GOL §§ 5-1501, 5-1501A, 5-1501B, 5-1502A through 5-1502N, 5-1504, 5-1512, 5-1513Verified Sep 18, 2026View source witnesses and a notary.
Free calculators and checklists for planning or settling an estate in New York: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay, and inheritance taxes.
In New York, four years at a public university cost about $101,592NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source and the cost of living is 8% above the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 17, 2026View source; the state levies an estate taxN.Y. Tax Law §§ 951–971Verified Sep 15, 2026View source above $7,350,000N.Y. Tax Law §§ 951–971Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
An attorney-prepared revocable trust in New York runs $4,250Estimate: 10 hours at $425, Clio's New York Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $6,375Estimate: 15 hours at $425, Clio's New York Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $1,344Estimate: 3 hours at $448, Clio's New York Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,688Estimate: 6 hours at $448, Clio's New York Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
Without a will in New York, a surviving spouse takes the first $50,000 plus half of the restEPTL § 4-1.1Verified Sep 10, 2026View source when every child of either spouse is a child of both, and descendants divide what passes to them per capita at each generationEPTL § 4-1.1; EPTL § 1-2.16Verified Sep 10, 2026View source.
79 guardianship firms in New York, by county and firm type.
Firm listings are for informational purposes only. SimplyTrust does not endorse or recommend any specific firm or attorney. Contact firms directly to discuss your situation and verify their current practice areas and availability.
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79 firms
FirmRome, NY
Elder law and estate planning firm with offices in Rome (Oneida County) and Ilion (Herkimer County). Its three attorneys, led by a Certified Elder Law Attorney with over 25 years in practice, handle probate and estate administration, guardianships, estate litigation, and crisis Medicaid and long-term care planning.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate Litigationand 4 more
FirmCorning, NY
Corning firm (Steuben County) serving the Southern Tier since 1979, with seven attorneys. Its trusts and estates practice covers estates, probate and administration, guardianship proceedings, wills, special needs trusts, powers of attorney and health care proxies, plus Medicaid planning and applications.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Lawand 4 more
FirmWalton, NY
Walton office (Delaware County) of a three-office firm serving the Catskills, Upper Delaware River Valley and Mid-Hudson regions, opened after the firm identified a critical need for legal services in Delaware County. Handles Surrogate's Court work: probate, administration, estate and trust administration, spousal elective share claims, and guardianships.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate Litigationand 2 more
Solo PracticePittsford, NY
Pittsford practice serving Rochester, Naples and the Finger Lakes, opened by Michael Robinson in 1986 and concentrated on estate planning. Guides executors, personal representatives and trust administrators through probate and trust administration, and represents beneficiaries and heirs, alongside Medicaid and special needs planning.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Lawand 3 more
FirmRochester, NY
Rochester elder-law and estate practice (formerly Dutcher & Zatkowsky) working out of The Design Center Building on Winton Place in Monroe County. Guides executors, trustees and other fiduciaries through the Surrogate's Court process — filing the will and required paperwork, managing estate assets and debts, handling disputes or challenges to the will, and distributing to beneficiaries after the seven months the court requires an estate to stay open for creditor claims. The firm states that no attorney in Monroe County has brought more Article 81 guardianships.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Lawand 5 more
FirmRiverhead, NY
Riverhead firm filing for Suffolk County families in the Suffolk County Surrogate's Court, with a second office in Melville. Takes administrators from inventorying assets through paying debts to final distribution, guides trustees who have just inherited the job through managing and distributing trust property, and represents both sides in contested accountings and will contests.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate Litigationand 6 more
FirmLockport, NY
Lockport firm covering Niagara County — North Tonawanda, Lockport and Niagara Falls — with three partners. For an estate it handles the probate proceeding, in which a surrogate's court validates the will and oversees distribution, and sees that the assets named in it, from personal property to retirement plans and bank accounts, reach the descendants or surviving spouse. Its elder-law side covers Medicaid eligibility and guardianship for seniors.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder LawGuardianshipand 2 more
Solo PracticeForest Hills, NY
Forest Hills (Queens) solo practice helping families in Queens, Brooklyn, and Nassau since 1985. Guides families through Surrogate's Court probate and estate administration, handling filings, creditor claims, and disputes, and litigates will contests and contested guardianship petitions in Surrogate's and Supreme Court. Also prepares wills, trusts, health care proxies, and powers of attorney, with Medicaid and long-term-care planning. Offers a free consultation.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateProbate LitigationElder LawGuardianship
FirmRochester, NY
Boutique Rochester firm on Linden Oaks that takes trust and estate work only. It represents executors and administrators through an estate settlement, preparing the probate and administration documents, collecting and valuing assets, distributing estates and trusts, and drawing the accountings and informal or formal settlement documents that end it, and separately advises beneficiaries who want their own counsel during someone else's administration. Three non-attorney staff work full time on administration files.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax Planningand 2 more
FirmAmherst, NY
Western New York firm with offices in Amherst, Buffalo, Ellicottville, and Lockport. Its estate group concludes the final affairs of a client's loved one: filing the probate petition in Surrogate's Court for an executor named in a will, or having an administrator appointed when there is none, then accounting for estate assets, paying the decedent's debts, and distributing what remains to beneficiaries. Also handles Article 81 guardianships for incapacitated adults, elder law, and long-term-care planning.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder LawGuardianship
FirmSchenectady, NY
Schenectady elder law and estate planning practice led by Kathleen M. Toombs, self-employed since 2007. Handles probate management, trust administration, and the transfer of estate assets, plus Medicaid home-care and nursing-home planning, guardianships, health care proxies, and powers of attorney. Free initial consultation for estate planning.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Lawand 2 more
FirmAlbany, NY
Albany-headquartered Capital Region firm with a second office in Saratoga Springs, handling probate and administration proceedings and probate litigation alongside wills, lifetime and testamentary trusts, health care proxies, guardianships, and powers of attorney. Quotes probate administration work hourly: "we never charge a percentage of the estate assets in determining our fee for services." Free case evaluation.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateProbate LitigationTax PlanningGuardianship
FirmWilliamsville, NY
Williamsville (Erie County) firm handling probate and estate administration across Western New York. Marshals and values assets, pays estate debts, files estate accountings, and represents beneficiaries and excluded heirs in will-validity and executor-impropriety disputes, including ancillary probate for out-of-state property. Free 30-minute consultation.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate LitigationGuardianship
Solo PracticeBrooklyn, NY
Brooklyn practice on Columbia Street representing executors and administrators in the Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond and Bronx Surrogate's Courts. It collects waivers and consents from distributees, gets a citation issued when an heir will not sign, opens the estate account and EIN, reviews creditor claims and files the final accounting. The first one-hour consultation is free, online or in person.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder LawTax Planningand 5 more
FirmWhite Plains, NY
White Plains trusts-and-estates firm whose six attorneys serve the New York City metro area from one Westchester Avenue office. Handles probate and estate administration for executors, administrators and trustees, trust administration and modification, trust and estate litigation and fiduciary accountings, estate and gift tax, Medicaid protective trusts, and Article 17, 17-A and 81 guardianships.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTrust Litigationand 4 more
FirmRochester, NY
Rochester (Monroe County) estate planning and elder law firm, serving communities across New York for more than 60 years. Handles estate, probate, and trust administration, estate litigation, guardianships and conservatorships, Medicaid planning, and veterans benefits. Bills flat fees and does not charge for phone calls or meetings.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate Litigationand 4 more
FirmRego Park, NY
Rego Park firm guiding Queens executors through probate, with a second office downtown at 225 Broadway. Takes newly appointed executors from filing through distribution, handles intestate administration where survivors must be identified as heirs under state law, and advises trustees already named under an existing trust. The firm declines work outside wills, trusts, estates, probate and elder law and refers it out; Russian is spoken.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Lawand 6 more
Solo PracticePlattsburgh, NY
Plattsburgh (Clinton County) general practice with over 35 years in the North Country. Handles probate and estate administration, wills and trusts, powers of attorney and guardianship, and real estate, alongside personal injury, workers' compensation, and Social Security disability.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateGuardianshipReal Estate
FirmGreat Neck, NY
Great Neck (Nassau County) firm of two attorneys serving Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Westchester. Handles probate where there is a will and estate administration where there is not, navigating the Surrogate's Court system for executors and administrators, alongside trust administration, wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, elder law, Medicaid planning, and special-needs trusts. Founded in 2017 by attorneys with more than two decades in elder law and estate practice; free 15-minute phone consultation.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Lawand 3 more