Estate and Trust Litigation Attorneys in Westchester County, New York
Estate and trust disputes involving Westchester County residents are heard at the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court on the 19th floor of the county courthouse at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in White Plains, with some trust and property matters heard by the Westchester Supreme Court in the same building. Milvidskiy Law Group P.C. handles contested estates and trusts for Westchester families from our office in Tarrytown.
Westchester estates often involve a family home that has appreciated for decades, retirement accounts, a closely held business, a second marriage, and adult children scattered across several states. Those facts produce a recognizable set of disputes. This page describes common Westchester estate disputes, how they move through the local courts, and how they are often resolved.
Key Takeaways:
- Westchester probate contests, accountings, and turnover proceedings are filed in the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court in White Plains, which can refer contested matters to mediation.
- Blended-family disputes often come down to the surviving spouse’s elective share, the greater of $50,000 or one-third of the net estate under current law, which must be claimed within six months after letters are issued.
- A Westchester home that was deeded or retitled late in a parent’s life may be recovered for the estate through a Surrogate’s Court discovery and turnover proceeding if the court finds the transfer was the product of undue influence, incapacity, or misuse of a power of attorney.
The Courts That Decide Westchester Estate Disputes
The Westchester County Surrogate’s Court, at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, 19th Floor, White Plains, New York 10601, hears probate contests, contested accountings, fiduciary removal petitions, discovery and turnover proceedings, kinship hearings, and most disputes over lifetime trusts. As of this writing, the court is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and case filings can be searched through the court system’s WebSurrogate service. Under the court’s alternative dispute resolution rules, proceedings are eligible for mediation and may be referred to mediation at the Surrogate’s discretion, and the court may also direct settlement conferences with court staff.
The Supreme and County Court of Westchester County sits in the same courthouse. The Supreme Court hears some lifetime trust disputes, related civil claims such as partition actions between co-owners of a Westchester home, and, in most cases, Article 81 guardianship proceedings for adults who can no longer manage their affairs. When an estate dispute begins as a fight over a living parent’s finances, it often starts there; see our adult guardianship page.
Common Estate Disputes in Westchester Families
High-value estates and hard-to-divide assets
A family home in Westchester may be the largest asset in the estate and the one the children disagree about most. One sibling wants to keep it, another wants it sold now, and the executor is accused of selling too cheaply or too slowly. Closely held businesses, rental properties, and art or collectibles raise similar valuation and timing disputes. These questions are usually resolved in an accounting proceeding, where beneficiaries can object to the executor’s decisions and, where warranted, seek a surcharge.
Blended families and second marriages
Many Westchester will contests pit children from a first marriage against a surviving second spouse or stepchildren. New York law gives the surviving spouse a right of election to take the greater of $50,000 or one-third of the net estate, counting joint accounts, revocable trust assets, certain retirement benefits, and other testamentary substitutes, and the election must be filed and served within six months after letters are issued. Adult children, by contrast, have no forced share in New York; their remedy, if they believe a late-life will was procured by pressure or signed without capacity, is a will contest. Sorting out which claims are worth pursuing, and whether a settlement can address both, is where legal advice matters.
Siblings in other states
Westchester parents frequently have one child nearby who handled their affairs, and others living out of state who learn only after death that accounts were made joint, beneficiary designations were changed, or the house was deeded to the caregiver child. Heirs who live out of state have the same standing in Westchester Surrogate’s Court as those who live nearby. Because our attorneys practice in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, we can also address assets or family members located across the state line, and we handle much of the work by video so that a beneficiary in another state does not need to travel to White Plains for each step.
The family home and late-in-life transfers
Deed transfers, life estate arrangements, and retitled accounts made in a parent’s last years are a common trigger for Westchester estate litigation. The executor or administrator can bring a discovery proceeding in Surrogate’s Court to examine the recipient under oath and, if the transfer was the product of undue influence, incapacity, fraud, or an abuse of a power of attorney, obtain a decree returning the property or its value to the estate. Where the transfer was legitimate, we defend the recipient. Either way, the property records at the Westchester County Clerk, the parent’s medical records, and the attorney or notary involved in the transfer are often the first evidence we gather.
How a Contested Probate Moves Through Westchester Surrogate’s Court
A Westchester will contest generally follows this path. The nominated executor files the will and a probate petition, and the court issues a citation to the distributees and other interested persons who have not signed waivers. Anyone whose interest would be adversely affected by the will may appear on the return date and request examinations of the attesting witnesses and the drafting attorney under SCPA 1404, which are confined, absent special circumstances, to the three years before the will was signed and the two years after. Objections are then due within ten days after the examinations end unless the court sets a different date. Discovery follows, including medical and financial records and depositions, and the court often holds conferences and may refer the case to mediation before trial. Contested probates in Westchester can take a year or more, which is one reason many resolve by agreement.
Contested Accountings and Fiduciary Removal
If an executor or trustee will not share information, a beneficiary can petition the Westchester Surrogate’s Court to compel a formal accounting and then examine the fiduciary under oath. Complaints that often arise include an executor living in the estate home rent-free, delaying the sale of the house while carrying costs mount, paying themselves commissions before the account is settled, or favoring their own children in trust distributions. Where the conduct is serious, the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act permits suspension or removal of a fiduciary for wasting or improperly applying assets, disobeying court orders, dishonesty, improvidence, unfitness, or failing to account when directed, and the court may act on its own if funds have been commingled. We also defend executors and trustees against objections that are driven by family resentment rather than any real breach.
Trust Disputes
Many Westchester families use revocable living trusts to avoid probate and irrevocable trusts to protect a home from long-term care costs. Both generate disputes: a trustee who treats the trust as their own, a successor trustee who refuses to distribute after the parent’s death, amendments signed when the parent was ill, or trust language that no longer fits the family. The Surrogate’s Court has authority over lifetime trusts and can construe ambiguous terms, and New York allows an irrevocable trust to be amended or revoked with the written, acknowledged consent of everyone beneficially interested, which can sometimes resolve a dispute without litigation. Our attorneys also handle trust administration, and sometimes the better answer is to get the trust administered correctly rather than to fight over it.
Kinship and Unknown Heirs
When a Westchester resident dies without a will and without close family, cousins and more distant relatives must prove their kinship in Surrogate’s Court before they can inherit. Many of these cases involve records from other states or countries and require a documented family tree that rules out closer relatives. After three years and a diligent search, the court may presume that missing relatives have died and that no other distributees exist, clearing the way for distribution.
Meet with a Westchester Estate Litigation Attorney in Tarrytown
If you have been served with a citation from the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court, believe a parent’s will or deed was procured by undue influence, cannot get an accounting from an executor or trustee, or are a fiduciary facing objections, contact Milvidskiy Law Group P.C. We meet with clients at our Tarrytown office in Westchester County, by video conference, and by phone. If you live elsewhere in New York State, see our Estate and Trust Litigation in New York page. For the administration side of an estate, see probate and estate administration and wills and probate.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change and figures are adjusted periodically. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I file objections to a will in Westchester County?
Objections are filed in the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court at 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, 19th Floor, White Plains, New York 10601, in the probate proceeding that the nominated executor has already opened. If you received a citation, the return date on it is the day you or your attorney must appear or file. Do not sign a waiver and consent until you understand what you are giving up.
I live out of state. Do I have to come to White Plains for a Westchester estate dispute?
Usually not for each step. Heirs who live out of state have the same standing in Westchester Surrogate’s Court as local heirs, and much of the work, including client meetings, document review, and many conferences, can be handled remotely. Whether a particular appearance or examination can proceed by video depends on the type of proceeding and the court’s current practice, which we confirm in each case.
Does the Westchester Surrogate's Court require mediation?
The court’s alternative dispute resolution rules make proceedings eligible for mediation and allow the Surrogate to refer a case to mediation, and the court may also direct settlement conferences with court staff. Referral is at the court’s discretion rather than automatic. Mediation can resolve estate disputes that would otherwise take years to try.
My sibling was added to our mother's bank accounts before she died. Can the estate get that money back?
Possibly. If your mother lacked capacity, was unduly influenced, or intended the joint account only for convenience rather than as a gift, the executor or administrator can bring a discovery and turnover proceeding in Westchester Surrogate’s Court to examine your sibling under oath and recover the funds for the estate. Bank records, the account-opening paperwork, and your mother’s medical records are the key evidence. If you are the sibling, these same facts are your defense.
My father's will left everything to his second wife. Do his children have any rights?
Adult children have no guaranteed share of a parent’s estate under New York law, so a will that leaves everything to a spouse is generally valid if it was properly executed by a person with capacity and free of undue influence and fraud. Children who believe otherwise can contest the will in Westchester Surrogate’s Court. The spouse, for her part, has an independent right of election to at least the greater of $50,000 or one-third of the net estate, which she does not need to invoke if the will already favors her.
The executor is living in my parents' Westchester house and has not sold it. What can I do?
You can petition the Westchester Surrogate’s Court to compel the executor to account, examine the executor under oath about the property, and object to the account for rent-free occupancy, carrying costs, and delay. If the conduct is serious, you can seek suspension or removal of the executor and a surcharge for losses to the estate. In some cases, the prospect of these proceedings prompts the executor to list the house without a contested hearing.
Our parents' house was deeded to one child before they died. Is that final?
Not necessarily. A deed signed when the parent lacked capacity, was pressured, or was misled, or a deed signed by an agent under a power of attorney that did not authorize gifts, can be challenged. The estate’s fiduciary can bring a discovery and turnover proceeding in Surrogate’s Court, and related claims are sometimes brought in Westchester Supreme Court. The deed on file with the Westchester County Clerk and the circumstances of its signing are where the investigation begins.
How long does a will contest take in Westchester County?
It varies with the number of parties, the scope of discovery, and the court’s calendar, but contested probates in Westchester can take a year or more from the first citation to a decision or settlement. SCPA 1404 examinations, medical record subpoenas, and depositions each add months. Many cases settle before trial, often after a court conference or mediation.
Can I look up an estate case in Westchester Surrogate's Court?
Yes. The court system’s WebSurrogate service allows the public to search Westchester Surrogate’s Court filings by name or file number. It will show you whether a probate or administration proceeding has been opened, who the fiduciary is, and what has been filed. We use it early to find out where a matter stands before a client has received any papers.
The decedent lived in Westchester but owned property in Connecticut or New Jersey. Which court handles that?
The primary estate proceeding is in the Westchester County Surrogate’s Court, but real estate in another state generally requires an ancillary proceeding in that state. We can coordinate the Westchester litigation with the out-of-state property issues rather than handing part of the matter to another firm. See our page on ancillary probate in New York for the reverse situation.
The trustee of my parent's Medicaid asset protection trust is not following the trust. What are my options?
Beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust can ask the Surrogate’s Court, which has authority over lifetime trusts, to compel the trustee to account, to construe the trust’s terms, and, where the trustee has breached duties, to surcharge or remove the trustee. Because these trusts are designed around Medicaid eligibility, any remedy must be chosen carefully to avoid undoing the protection the trust was meant to provide. Our attorneys evaluate the litigation and trust administration sides of these cases together.
