KINSHIP HEARINGS - PROVING

YOUR FAMILY TREE

You may be an heir or distributee of an estate, but you could still be called upon to prove your relationship to the decedent before you get your inheritance. The process by which you establish that you are related to the decedent is known as a Kinship Hearing. The hearing is held in the Surrogate's Court and testimony is taken under oath as in a trial. The hearing may be held before a judge or a court attorney depending upon the county in which the hearing is held. Other parties that may be present include the attorney for the public administrator, a representative of the State Attorney General's office and one or more Guardians ad Litem. Regular rules of evidence apply at a kinship hearing, and the hearing my be held over several days depending upon the complexity of the case. As senior attorney for the Public Administrator of Kings County for many years, attorney Rudolf J. Karvay, has handled dozens of kinship hearings nationally and internationally. Now, he applies this unique experience on behalf of his clients in private practice.

Kinship hearings are often

complicated and confusing.

Although it may seem as simple as going to court and testifying as to how you are related to the decedent, often you may be precluded from doing so by the "dead man's statute." You need a New York kinship hearing attorney on your side to make sure you get what is rightfully yours. You may be required to produce disinterested witnesses who are able to testify regarding the decedent's family tree. In addition, you will be required to produce certified documents to support the family tree such as birth certificates and death certificates. In most cases it is advisable to hire a qualified genealogist in addition to your kinship attorney. We work with court qualified genealogists to establish your inheritance rights.

Proving Paternity in New York

Surrogate’s Court

A non-marital child must establish paternity before the child may inherit from his or her father or the paternal relatives. Of course, this requirement only applies if the father died without a Will (intestate).

There several ways that a

non-marital child may prove

paternity

• While the father is alive, a court has issued an order of filiation declaring paternity or the mother and father have signed an acknowledgement of paternity in proper form which has been properly filed. • The father has signed a document acknowledging paternity that satisfies the requirements of EPTL 4-1.2 (a)(2)(B). • Paternity may be proved by clear and convincing evidence (e.g., DNA evidence or proof that the father openly and notoriously acknowledged the child as his own). This option requires a court hearing similar to a kinship hearing discussed above.