Probate in Brooklyn

Probate Court Record

Kings County (Brooklyn) Surrogate's Court

Kings County (Brooklyn) · 2nd Judicial District

Hours

Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday 9:00 AM-1:00 PM and 2:00 PM-4:45 PM; Wednesday 9:00 AM-noon

Office

2 Johnson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

E-filing

Self-represented filing

Allowed

Self-help forms

How to file probate in Kings County (Brooklyn) →

Verified October 16, 2026 · Source

Do I need a lawyer for probate in Brooklyn? →Settling an estate in Brooklyn →

Trust Administration Firms Serving Brooklyn

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.

Since 2017Serves 6 countiesFree consultationVirtual consultationsEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawGuardianship+2

Midtown Manhattan practice on Lexington Avenue guiding executors and beneficiaries through New York probate and trust administration in the five borough Surrogate's Courts: locating and valuing assets, resolving creditor claims in the statutory priority order, and preparing the accounting the court requires before a final distribution. Also drafts wills, trusts, asset-protection plans, and Medicaid plans. Run by Gabriel Katzner, who passed the CPA exam before law school; the practice also keeps a California office in Encinitas.

Solo PracticeSince 2009Serves 5 countiesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawAsset ProtectionMedicaid Planning

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.

Serves 3 countiesFree consultationEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawTax Planning+5

Staten Island firm on South Avenue, with a by-appointment Manhattan office, handling estate administration where there is a will and administration where there is not, plus trust administration and trustee and fiduciary guidance. Also drafts wills, pour-over wills, and revocable, irrevocable, and asset-protection trusts, and files community and nursing-home Medicaid applications.

Serves 6 countiesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawTax Planning+2

Garden City firm on Old Country Road serving Nassau, Suffolk, and the New York City boroughs. Works alongside executors and trustees to locate, gather and liquidate assets, notify creditors and review claims within the seven-month Letters Testamentary window, file the decedent's final income and estate tax returns, prepare estate accountings and releases, and distribute to beneficiaries. Three attorneys, led by a Certified Elder Law Attorney, also handling Medicaid planning and applications, special-needs planning, and asset protection.

Since 1991Serves 7 countiesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawSpecial Needs Planning+2

Lower Manhattan practice on Broad Street representing beneficiaries, administrators, executors, heirs, and trustees in Surrogate's Court probate proceedings and will contests across the five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester. Handles estate administration, ancillary probate for foreign and out-of-state decedents, SCPA 1404 examinations, contested accountings, guardianship, and federal and New York estate tax returns.

Solo PracticeSince 2015Serves 8 countiesFree consultationEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate LitigationTrust Litigation+4

All 19 New York trust administration firms serving Brooklyn →

Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in New York

Free New York forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for New York.

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Revocable Living Trust

Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.

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Pour-Over Will

In New York, a pour-over will is signed before 2EPTL § 3-2.1Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.

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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in New York

Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in New York: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for New York.

How Do I Settle a Trust?

Settling a trust in New York happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's trust statuteN.Y. EPTL Article 7Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.

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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?

In New York, trustee compensation follows a statutory fee scheduleNY SCPA § 2309; NY SCPA § 2312 (corporate trustees); NY SCPA § 2313 (multiple trustees)Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount. The schedule is an annual commission on principal.

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How Do I Settle an Estate?

Settling an estate in New York: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 270 days22 NYCRR 207.20Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 7 monthsSCPA 1802, 1803, 1810, 1811; EPTL 11-1.5Verified Oct 19, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 7 months to 9 months.

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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?

New York requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 1040N.Y. Tax Law § 601(c) cl. (vii); Chapter 59, Laws of 2025 (Part B)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?

Inherited assets in New York take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular ratesNY Tax Law Article 22 § 601(a)–(c) — rate schedules; § 601(c) covers "resident unmarried individuals, resident married individuals filing separate returns and resident estates and trusts"Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

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