How Long Does Probate Take in New York? A Step-by-Step Timeline

Families administering an estate almost always want a date. It is a fair thing to want, and it is the one thing nobody can honestly promise, because the length of probate depends on the estate rather than on the court.

What can be described is the shape of the process. Probate in New York moves through the same stages regardless of size, and knowing which stage an estate is in tells you a great deal about what remains.

It begins with a petition filed in the Surrogate’s Court for the county where the person lived. The court reviews the Will and, if it is admitted, issues the authority the executor needs to act. Until that authority exists, the executor cannot do very much at all.

Interested parties are then notified — the beneficiaries named in the Will, and anyone who would have inherited had there been no Will. This step is where contested matters tend to surface, and where an estate can slow considerably.

The estate’s assets are then identified and valued, its debts and taxes settled, and what remains distributed to the beneficiaries. Straightforward estates move through this in an orderly way. Estates involving a business, property in more than one state, hard-to-value assets, or missing heirs take longer, and a contested Will can add a great deal of time.

The most useful thing a family can do is start early and keep good records. The second most useful thing is to ask the attorney handling it where the estate currently sits, because that is a question with a real answer.