Ask a Lawyer - Archive

My nephew was killed in an accident. He has bank accounts and paychecks coming in from his employer.

How does my brother get access to the money to pay off bills and help pay for the expenses?

If your nephew's bank accounts, checks and other funds belonging to him do not exceed $30,000 in amount, your brother can get himself appointed Voluntary Administrator of the estate. He should go to the Surrogate's Court in the county where your nephew lived and fill out a form asking the court to appoint him Voluntary Adminstrator of his son's estate. Once the Court has appointed your brother as Voluntary Adminstrator, your brother can open an estate bank account, collect the money and deposit it in the estate bank account and pay the bills from that account. Any money remaining after all the bills are paid should go to his heirs (wife, if married; wife and children, if married with children, parents if no wife or children, and so on.)

If the estate is over $30,000, your brother would have to apply to the Surrogate's Court to be appointed Administrator of his son's estate. The idea is the same but the procedures are more complex.