DubiLaw has over 25 years of experience representing both proponents and objectants in litigation involving wills, trusts, and estates. We know that will contests are very fact-specific and even tiny nuances can have consequential effects. We also know that there are separate rules concerning a will challenge as opposed to a trust challenge. Our experience representing clients in all types of estate litigation makes us uniquely qualified to provide legal counsel and representation in the following areas:
- Will challenges or defenses
- Trust challenges or defenses
- Estate disputes
- 1404 Examinations
Richard A. Dubi, Esq. is both an attorney and a CPA, giving him the knowledge, skill, and experience to understand complex legal and financial documents. Whether representing clients who desire to challenge or to defend the legality of wills or trusts, he has the outstanding qualifications to do so.
Emotionally Charged Environments
DubiLaw understands that few things are more distressing to a family than an estate dispute. When family members fight with each other over the provisions of a will or trust, emotions run high and family relationships are in danger of being irreparably damaged. Richard A. Dubi, Esq. treats his clients with compassion, giving counsel as well as representation to individuals such as the following:
- A disinherited family member
- A beneficiary in a previous will who claims that it is still valid, despite the fact that the decedent executed a subsequent will
- A distributee who would have inherited had the decedent died intestate
Legality Versus Fairness
DubiLaw knows that New York courts look to the legality of wills and trusts, not their perceived fairness. The person who created the will or trust had a legal right to dispose of his or her assets as he or she saw fit. The only questions a court considers are these:
- Did the person have the mental capacity to create and execute the document?
- Was he or she under duress or the undue influence of another at the time the document was created?
- Was the document validly executed, witnessed, etc.?
- Was there any fraud involved in the creation or execution of the document?
Will and trust challenges often are extremely complicated, as are the processes involved. There may be time deadlines which must be met in order to proceed with the challenge. In addition, before filing formal objections to a will, an objectant may want to exercise his or her rights under the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act, section 1404.
This Act allows an objectant to examine the attorney who drafted the document and the people who witnessed it. The objectant also can request relevant medical and financial records for three years prior and two years after the date of the will or the date of the decedent’s death, whichever is shorter. A 1404 Examination can help the objectant and DubiLaw determine if a will contest is warranted and, if so, under which legal theory to proceed.
Trial Counsel to the Profession
DubiLaw realizes that most attorneys who specialize in estate planning are not litigators. When a will or trust they have drafted is contested, time is of the essence and they need the assistance of experienced trial counsel. Mr. Dubi serves as trial counsel to multiple New York estate planning law firms and has of counsel relationships with many such firms. He has successfully litigated numerous contested estate, will, and trust cases in various Surrogate’s Courts throughout the State of New York, obtaining such results as:
- $1,200,000 for a will objectant claiming fraud
- $400,000 for a trust objectant claiming fraud
- $300,000 for a will objectant claiming undue influence
For more information or to learn how DubiLaw can obtain a successful resolution of your specific case, contact the Law Offices of Richard A. Dubi, P.C., in any of these three convenient ways: