Is a Beneficiary Entitled to Information About the Estate in New York and How to Ask for It

Yes, but the right has layers. Some information a beneficiary is entitled to without asking: notice of the probate, and the inventory the fiduciary files with the court. Some a beneficiary gets by asking: a copy of the will, the values of the assets, what has been sold, and where the administration stands. And the full picture, every receipt and every payment with the records behind them, comes in an accounting, which an executor or administrator must give when a beneficiary demands it and which the Surrogate’s Court will compel seven months after letters issued. What a beneficiary is not entitled to is a vote on each decision or a running commentary on the estate’s bank account. This page explains what you can get, when, how to ask, and what to do if the fiduciary will not answer. It is part of our estate accounting section.

What a Beneficiary Can Get, and When

Before the fiduciary is appointed: the will and notice of probate

A beneficiary’s right to information begins with the probate petition. Beneficiaries named in the will are given notice that the will has been offered for probate, and the will itself, once filed, is a public record of the Surrogate’s Court. Ask the petitioner’s lawyer for a copy or get one from the court. Read it for two things: what you are left, and whether you are a specific legatee or a residuary beneficiary, because that decides how much of the estate’s administration concerns you. Distributees who would inherit if there were no will receive a citation and can contest the will; that is a separate subject, covered under will contests.

Within six months of letters: the inventory

The court’s rules require an executor or administrator to file an inventory of the estate’s assets within six months of letters. It is a short form listing the assets and their values at death, and it is filed whether or not anyone asks. It is not an accounting; it says nothing about income, expenses or sales. But it tells you the size of the estate and the fiduciary’s own statement of what is in it, and it is the first thing to compare against what you know. Some fiduciaries file it and never send it. Ask for a copy, or get it from the court file.

On request: the status of administration and the values

A beneficiary is entitled to reasonable information about the estate on request: what has been collected, what remains to be collected, whether the house or apartment has been listed or sold and for how much, the date-of-death values and any appraisals, whether an estate tax return was required, what claims have been presented, and a realistic estimate of when a distribution can be made. Creditors have seven months from letters to present claims, and a fiduciary who distributes earlier does so at their own risk, so the honest answer to “when” is usually “not before seven months, and then it depends on the house and the taxes.” A fiduciary can answer all of this in a letter. Most do.

On demand: the accounting

The enforceable right to the whole record is the right to an accounting: the fiduciary’s statement, in the court’s schedule format, of every asset received, every sale, every expense, every claim paid, every distribution, the commission taken, and what is on hand. A fiduciary is not required to prepare one on their own initiative; most estates are closed on receipts and releases without one. But once a beneficiary asks, the fiduciary must account, and after seven months a petition under SCPA § 2205 compels it. The account comes with its supporting records, which is how a beneficiary sees the bank statements, the closing statement and the invoices. See does an executor have to show an accounting and can a beneficiary see the bank statements.

What a Fiduciary Need Not Share Day to Day

An executor or administrator is the one appointed to manage the estate, and the law leaves the management to them. A beneficiary is not entitled to approve the sale price of the house, to be consulted on which broker or accountant is hired, to receive copies of every bill, or to see the estate bank statements each month. A fiduciary who chooses to share those things reduces suspicion and the chance of litigation, and we encourage our fiduciary clients to do so. But the beneficiary’s remedy for a bad decision is not to block it in advance; it is to object to it in the accounting, where a sale below market, an unnecessary expense or an imprudent investment is surcharged against the fiduciary personally. The exception is a transaction that will cause harm that cannot be undone, such as a sale to the fiduciary’s own relative at a low price. There a beneficiary can ask the court to restrain the fiduciary before the closing, but must move quickly and with evidence.

Residuary Beneficiaries and Specific Legatees

The will decides how much of the estate’s business is yours.

• A residuary beneficiary takes a share of what is left after the debts, expenses, taxes and specific gifts are paid. Every dollar spent, every fee, every sale price and every commission changes the residuary share. A residuary beneficiary has the full right to information and to a full accounting, and is the usual objectant.
• A specific legatee is left a particular thing or sum: the watch, the car, $25,000. The legatee’s interest is in receiving it. A specific legatee who has been paid generally cannot compel a full accounting, because nothing in it can change what they received. A specific legatee who has not been paid is entitled to know why and when, and after seven months can petition for payment; a legacy that is not paid within seven months of letters generally carries interest.
• A distributee in an intestate estate stands in the residuary beneficiary’s shoes: the whole net estate is divided among the distributees, so every transaction concerns them.

An example. A will leaves $20,000 to a nephew and the residue to two daughters. The nephew is paid in month eight. He has no further right to the estate’s records. The daughters, who take everything else, are entitled to the inventory, to answers about the house, and to an accounting on demand, and it is they who would object if the executor’s expenses look wrong.

How to Ask

1. Write. A letter or email to the fiduciary or the fiduciary’s lawyer. Say who you are, what you are asking for, and by when you would like an answer. A request for “the inventory, the current values of the assets, and an accounting of the estate” is complete. It does not need a statute.
2. Keep the copy and the date. If it comes to a petition, the court will want to see that you asked and were ignored.
3. Give it a reasonable time. Thirty days is customary for a status letter. An accounting takes longer to assemble; sixty to ninety days is ordinary once the seven months have run.
4. Escalate through a lawyer. A letter from counsel tells the fiduciary that the next step is a petition, and most are answered at that point.

When the Fiduciary Refuses

Two proceedings answer a refusal. The Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act provides a narrow proceeding to compel a fiduciary who has ignored a written request to supply information about the assets or affairs of the estate relevant to the petitioner’s interest; it is quick and useful when the question is specific, for example whether the apartment has been sold. The broader remedy is the petition to compel an accounting under SCPA § 2205, ordinarily entertained seven months after letters issued. The court cites the fiduciary and, absent a good reason, orders the account filed within a set time. A fiduciary who disobeys can be held in contempt and removed under SCPA § 711. See when an executor refuses to account and compelling an accounting.

Once the account is filed, SCPA § 2211 gives every interested party the right to examine the fiduciary under oath, and to demand the documents behind the schedules, before deciding whether to object. This examination is where questions about missing assets, transfers shortly before death, and unexplained payments get asked and answered on the record. Objections follow under SCPA § 2209, and objections that are sustained end in a surcharge. See objecting to an accounting.

If the information you are after concerns assets that never came into the estate, because they were taken before death or held in someone else’s name, the accounting is the wrong tool; a discovery proceeding under SCPA 2103 is how the fiduciary, or a beneficiary if the fiduciary will not act, gets those records and that property back.

Pitfalls

• Treating silence as concealment. An executor who has not written in five months is probably waiting for the creditors’ period to run, not hiding money. Ask before assuming.
• Asking the bank. The bank will not give a beneficiary the estate’s records or the decedent’s statements; only the fiduciary with letters can obtain them. Ask the fiduciary, and if refused, compel the account.
• Signing a release to get information. A receipt and release ends your right to object. It is signed after you have the account and the records, not in exchange for them. See receipts and releases.
• Demanding a judicial accounting when an informal one would do. A judicial accounting costs the estate, and therefore the residuary beneficiaries, more. If the fiduciary offers a full informal account with the records, review it first. See informal accountings.
• For fiduciaries: refusing on principle. The request cannot be refused. It can only be answered now, informally, or later, in court, at greater expense and with the court watching.

Talk to Us

If you are a beneficiary who cannot get answers, or a fiduciary who wants to give the right ones without inviting a proceeding, we can tell you what the estate must disclose and how to ask for it or provide it. We handle information requests, compelled accountings and contested accountings in the Surrogate’s Courts of New York City, Long Island and Westchester. Call 212-233-1233 or email [email protected].