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If you live in Forest Hills, Rego Park, or Kew Gardens and you already have a will, you may still be leaving your family with months in Queens County Surrogate’s Court. A will does not avoid probate — it only tells the court how to distribute what you own once that process has already run. That distinction matters, and it’s one I walk Queens families through regularly.
What Probate Actually Looks Like for Queens Families
Once someone passes away with only a will, their executor must file a petition with the Surrogate’s Court, notify every beneficiary and next of kin, and wait — often many months — before gaining legal authority to touch a single bank account. I have guided Forest Hills and Rego Park families through this exact delay, watching mortgage payments and utility bills pile up on a home the family could not yet legally manage.
The Alternative: A Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust changes that outcome entirely. You move ownership of your co-op, house, or investment accounts into the trust while you are alive, and you keep complete control as trustee for as long as you live. When you pass away, your successor trustee steps in immediately and distributes everything according to your wishes, without ever filing in Surrogate’s Court. If you want to understand the full process, I put together a resource where I work as a revocable living trust attorney for Queens homeowners, covering exactly how this planning tool functions from start to finish.
Funding Your Trust Correctly
That is why I advise every Forest Hills client to treat funding as seriously as drafting. I have seen beautifully written trusts fail simply because the homeowner never retitled their Forest Hills co-op or Rego Park brownstone into the trust’s name. When that happens, the property lands right back in probate, defeating the entire purpose of the plan. Retitling real estate, updating bank signature cards, and reassigning beneficiary designations are steps I personally walk clients through.
Who This Planning Serves Best
Multi-generational families in Forest Hills, co-op owners with board approval requirements, and anyone with relatives living outside New York all benefit from this structure, since it keeps the estate administration private and moving quickly when it matters most.
If your loved one set up a revocable living trust that now needs to be administered, contact Roman Aminov today for a free phone consultation.
Contributed by Dan Rose, a local business writer specializing in Trust and Estate Planning services in New York City.
Roman Aminov Estate Law firm of Queens
147-17 Union Tpke, Kew Gardens Hills, NY 11367, United States
P59P+93 Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, NY, USA
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