Iso lawyer (estate? Probate?) to tell if worth pursuing

List of Forums + New Post Recipe Box Usergroups Following Log in

Join Now

| | | | |

Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

View latest: 24h 48h 72h

amother

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 8:38 am

I'm in NY and urgently need to find out whether dh has a legitimate claim against the estate of a person who passed away after significantly damaging our property.

We can't afford to pay a lawyer unless we win. We also don't qualify for legal aid because we're not low income, we just have high expenses that don't leave us with lawyer money. Plus we have a huge bill for the damages unless we can get something. We already checked and the damage is not covered by insurance.

Does anyone know of a qualified individual or organization who would advise whether this is something to pursue and what it would potentially cost to file, without charging much if at all for that advice?

mha3484

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 8:48 am

Most attorneys will give you a consult which should not majorly set you back. Some are free and some may just be an hour at their fee.

amother

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 8:58 am

Thanks I am looking for a specific recommendation of someone who deals with these types of issues. I don't know of any and I'm hesitant to pull someone random from Google.

amother

Teal

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 9:34 am

I highly recommend Haas and Zaltz in Airmont NY
I personally use them and know them personally.
845-425-3900

amother

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 3:39 pm

Thank you! Any others? Looking to get more than one opinion just in case

amother

Taupe

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 5:04 pm

Morgan and Morgan

amother

Nasturtium

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 8:34 pm

amother Teal wrote:

I highly recommend Haas and Zaltz in Airmont NY
I personally use them and know them personally.
845-425-3900

I second this, Haas is top

amother

SandyBrown

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 10:48 pm

Property damage or personal injury?

amother

Fern

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:02 pm

OP, you put estate and probate in parenthesis. I think the first thing you want to do is figure out if you have a claim due to the property damage. For that, you should consult with an attorney who does general litigation. Only if there is a viable claim, would you sue. And even then, you would likely only need an estate lawyer if an estate was not opened. But this type of thing is not something that lawyers will generally handle on contingency.

amother

Molasses

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:17 pm

OP, I'm an attorney and I can tell you that nobody can guarantee you a win. You have a few potential issues. It would help to know how much money we are talking about here. Are we talking about ten thousand dollars or $250,000? Litigation is expensive! Also, realize that most cases settle before they go to trial and then many of those settle before there is a verdict. However, you also have to consider that it takes time for things to unfold. Even if things go favorably for you, it could take months or years before you recoup your damages and you would have to pay your attorney in the meantime for the work she would be doing on your case. You have to take these things into consideration before making a decision about whether to pursue your cause of action. Good luck!

amother

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:24 pm

amother SandyBrown wrote:

Property damage or personal injury?

Property

amother

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:25 pm

amother Fern wrote:

I need someone who knows about probate stuff because the money might already be gone to beneficiaries and I want to know if there's still anything to do about it. Or if it's already in process but not gone yet

amother

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:27 pm

amother Molasses wrote:

Probably about $20k. Settling would be great. Right now we have nothing and are going to have to go into debt to fix the damage.

amother

Fern

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:35 pm

amother OP wrote:

Probably about $20k. Settling would be great. Right now we have nothing and are going to have to go into debt to fix the damage.

Maybe it would be worth it to look into small claims court. The cap I think is $10,000 in NYC, of course I don't know where you're located. That's less than the $20,000 of damage you would like to claim, but otoh, you'll save on attorney's fees. I would suggest you consult with an estate attorney first and pay for the hour consult, but maybe going on your own in small claims is an option to keep in mind, depending on what they say. Hatzlocha.

amother

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:37 pm

amother Fern wrote:

The problem is that I'm assuming claims court is against a person. The person in this case is deceased and left all their money to charity.

amother

Fern

Sun, Jan 08 2023, 11:42 pm

amother OP wrote:

The problem is that I'm assuming claims court is against a person. The person in this case is deceased and left all their money to charity.

In NYC,
Only an individual can sue in Small Claims Court. Corporations, partnerships, associations, or assignees cannot sue in Small Claims Court. However, they can be sued in Small Claims Court.
https://www.nycourts.gov/court.....shtml

You can verify if that's the case for an estate as well. But I agree you should meet with the attorney first, maybe this is something to discuss with him or her.

Page 1 of 1