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Probate Timeline for New York
This is a sample probate timeline to give you an approximate idea of how a New York probate proceeds, from reading the will to distributing the assets. An estate can take anywhere between six months and several years to close. The months below are approximate, and the tasks often overlap; in many estates some steps take considerably longer, and getting appointed can occasionally not happen at all.
The sample timeline, month by month
| Approximate month | What happens |
|---|---|
| Months 1 to 3 | Read the will, if there is one. Determine who will be the personal representative: either the executor named in the will, or the person everyone is comfortable with. Get death certificates. Get all the necessary waivers and consents. File a petition with the Surrogate’s Court to start the probate process. |
| Months 3 to 6 | After obtaining letters from the court, the personal representative begins acting. Take a preliminary inventory of the estate and make a preliminary list of creditors. Open and inventory the safe deposit box. Notify all possible creditors and determine which creditors are legitimate. Consult an accountant about taxes: the accountant prepares the federal estate tax return, Form 706, if applicable, and the final income tax returns, Form 1040 and Form 1041, also need to be filed. |
| Month 6 | By now the value and extent of the estate should be known. The inventory of assets needs to be filed, and property appraised if needed. |
| Month 7 | Decide which property should be sold and which beneficiary gets which asset. Most estates need seven months before property can be distributed. |
| Month 8 | Close out creditor claims, finish negotiating with creditors, and pay the creditor and tax bills. Provide a preliminary accounting to the beneficiaries. |
| Month 9 | This is the deadline for filing a renunciation, if one is needed; consult an attorney well in advance. File the petition on the final accounting with the Surrogate’s Court and prepare the beneficiary agreement. |
| Month 11 and on | Distribute the assets to the beneficiaries, file the petition to be discharged as personal representative, and close the estate. |
This sample probate timeline is approximate and not guaranteed. Estates take longer if substantial or complicated property is involved or if there is an ongoing business, and longer still if there is a disagreement.
What speeds up the timeline
Some estates move faster than the sample. An attorney-drafted will with a self-proving affidavit eliminates the need to track down and depose the witnesses at the time of probate. Cooperative beneficiaries who sign waivers and consents promptly avoid the citation process, which adds weeks or months. Clear, identifiable assets such as bank and brokerage accounts can be retitled and transferred quickly, and if the decedent kept records identifying all accounts, debts and beneficiary designations, the inventory goes much faster.
It also helps if there is no real estate in another state, because out-of-state real estate triggers an ancillary probate that runs in parallel with the New York estate and can take a year or more; if the estate is below the estate tax threshold, because skipping the federal estate tax return saves significant time and complexity; and if there are no contests or objections, because a clean estate moves through the court promptly.
What slows the timeline
Other estates stretch well past the sample, and the reasons tend to fall into a few groups.
| Factor | Why it adds time |
|---|---|
| Missing or homemade will | A will without a self-proving affidavit requires additional steps to authenticate. A missing original will is particularly problematic. |
| Difficult-to-find heirs | Even an uncontested estate cannot proceed until all distributees have been identified and either notified or located through a diligent search. |
| Will contest | A formal contest can add a year or more as discovery, motion practice and possibly a trial unfold. |
| Dispute over the executor | Even without a will contest, a family dispute about who should serve can delay letters by months. |
| Complex assets | Closely held businesses, partnerships, foreign assets and intellectual property all need specialized valuation and disposition. |
| Multiple real estate properties | Each property typically has to be appraised, maintained during the estate, and either transferred or sold. A sale of New York real estate can take six months or more from listing to closing. |
| Federal estate tax return | Form 706 can take months to prepare, and the audit cycle adds more time. |
| IRS or New York Department of Taxation audit | Estate tax audits are routine for larger estates and add one to three years to closure. |
| Litigation against third parties | If the estate has to recover assets taken before death, the recovery litigation can extend the estate by years. |
Communicating with beneficiaries throughout the process
One of the executor’s most important responsibilities is keeping the beneficiaries informed. Beneficiaries who do not understand why the process takes so long become frustrated and sometimes hostile, and regular updates, even brief ones, reduce that frustration significantly. We recommend that executors send written updates at the major milestones: appointment, completion of the inventory, payment of major debts, filing of the tax returns, and the approach to final distribution. A paragraph or two saying where things stand and what comes next is usually enough, and a beneficiary who gets those updates has far less reason to suspect that something is wrong.
The effect of family conflict on the timeline
Even without a formal contest, family conflict can dramatically slow an estate. Beneficiaries who do not respond to requests for waivers, do not return calls, refuse to sign receipts and releases, or actively obstruct the executor all add time to the administration. The executor’s options are patience, more formal communication, and ultimately compulsory court proceedings to force movement.
Compulsory proceedings — petitions to compel an accounting, to compel a particular action, or to cut off a difficult beneficiary’s ability to hold things up — are slow and expensive but sometimes necessary. We help executors judge when to use them and when to keep working informally, and we help beneficiaries judge when an executor’s delay is normal and when it is time to compel an accounting.
Estimating the timeline for your own case
The sample timeline is a baseline. The realistic timeline for a particular estate depends on whether there is a will and whether it is likely to be contested; how many beneficiaries there are and whether they are cooperative; what kinds of assets the estate holds; whether real estate is involved and needs to be sold; whether the estate is large enough to require federal or New York estate tax filings; whether there are pending disputes with creditors or third parties; and whether any beneficiaries are minors or incapacitated and need special handling.
We can give you a realistic estimate for your own situation at an initial consultation. Email us at [email protected] or call us at 212-233-1233.
About the Author
Albert Goodwin Esq. is a licensed New York attorney with over 18 years of courtroom experience. His extensive knowledge and experience make him well-qualified to write authoritative articles on a wide range of legal topics. He can be reached at 212-233-1233 or [email protected].
