Legal Question in Elder Law in New York

Re: Are wills required to be filed in NY State?

Technically no, there's no statutory requirement in NY to submit a decedent's last will and testament for probate if it's not needed to transfer assets. Unlikely, but sometimes people do plan their affairs to make a will irrelevant, by using trusts or beneficiary designation (or "transfer on death" designations) for IRAs and bank accounts or investment accounts, or "joint tenants with rights of survivorship." With a certified copy of the death certificate and proper identification, these assets can be transferred without probating the will. But that's not the same as withholding a will which is needed for probate; that someone cannot do. A will which is not admitted to probate is of no legal significance and your relative could not have used an unprobated will to transfer assets. No bank or financial institution in the United States would give any effect to a will; the will means nothing, only the Letters Testamentary have any legal significance.

Good luck.

Rick Bryan

New York, NY