NY State executors?

February 16, 2020 5:12 AM

Recommendation for an Executor for basic wills for a couple that live in NY state.

We’re in our 40’s and 50’s - my wife and I have standard wills with no beneficiaries other than each other, a couple of relatives and charities (no kids/descendants). We have a standard “middle class estate” …..some 401ks/mutual funds, an apartment, <$100k in other stuff, no trusts or complex stuff to deal with.

We don’t want to bother our friends with executor work. We’d thus like a professional executor to manage our wills and then estates when we die. Lots of big firms do estate management, but we haven’t found any recommendations online.

Does anyone have any recommendations for executors that deal with small jobs like this? They must live in NY state. I tried my credit union; no dice. I know that NY state caps the fees that an executor can get.

Ideally they would be an institution or law firm that would outlive us, so no solo-practitioners....

posted by anonymous to Law & Government (3 answers total)

One thought would be to find a smaller law firm that specializes in trusts and estates work that is local to you. The trusts and estates world is pretty "clubby" - the lawyers, bankers, trust officers, and judges tend to know each others. Whatever city/town you are in, if you talk to a reputable practitioner in this field, they will know who handles this type of work. If you don't have anyone to give you a referral, I would look for a smaller law firm where the lawyers have been recognized by the local bar organizations for work in the trusts/estates field.
posted by Mid at 7:33 AM on February 16, 2020

Most of our family have had relatives as executors, but one had a local, small-town lawyer and it seemed to work out well. Maybe the bar association could recommend someone in your area?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:30 PM on February 16, 2020

The problem with asking a lawyer to act as executor is that the lawyer will normally charge his usual hourly rate for doing that work, and most of the work is non-legal.

I would seek out a bank that offers trust services. They are used to serving in this role.
posted by yclipse at 8:09 PM on February 16, 2020 [1 favorite]