Fortson, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Unfortunately, if you have already tried submitting forms and documents and you aren't getting anywhere, and if you need help and advice on how to file additional documents, then you need to hire a NY attorney. Your other option is to give up on the funds. For one thing, unless you are actually the legally-appointed representative of your late grandmother's estate, you may not even have the clear legal right to claim the funds. If the funds are in the custody of New York State, then it will be their laws that you have to deal with. They aren't required to make it easy to claim lost funds. This likely won't be much consolation to you, but we have the same kind of situation in my own family, where several deceased family members have unclaimed funds on record in North Carolina. However, because there are no currently appointed Executors for their estates, there is no one who currently has the legal right to claim the funds, and the value of the funds does not make it worth opening (or re-opening) the estates to claim them. So there they sit, and will likely remain there forever. You can try contacting a legal aid organization in New York, but most of those groups won't help with estate-related matters like this. You may also be able to find a financial advisor or CPA who will provide you with some advice, if you are using that person for other matters. Good luck- I hope you are able to figure it out.

It is not on its face a conflict if certain disclosures are made. Remember,  your parents have a choice. However, I would not do business with someone who does this unless there is a full disclosure of the conflict in writing and signed by your parents. It should lay out completely the fees the executor will earn.

From your recitation of the facts it is difficult to determine exactly what happened. In order to determine if you were effectively disinherited from your father's estate you should have his Will reviewed by and attorney. I am unsure if your mother is alive or deceased or if she survived your father. You do not mention if either parent had a probate estate opened, or if assets passed to the survivor outside of probate. These are all important issues, as you may be a creditor of one or both estates, but you would need to file a timely claim. If your mother survived and your father left the estate to her you may be a beneficiary of her estate and then his disinheritance in his Will may not impact you, but again it is difficult to say without reviewing he relevant documents and having a complete understanding of the facts.