Contested Accountings

McCarthy Fingar’s Surrogate’s Court litigation lawyers represent clients in contested accountings, both for estate accountings and trust accounting. A fiduciary’s final accounting is the culmination of important transactions in the administration of an estate or trust. In the final accounting, a fiduciary will, among other things, propose final distributions for the beneficiaries. Objections are sometimes made to an accounting, based upon a variety of potential problems in the accounting, including financial losses, heavy fees and expenses and omissions of potential assets in the estate or trust. McCarthy Fingar represents clients on both sides of the issues, sometimes representing fiduciaries seeking to uphold their accountings. Sometimes, our lawyers represent beneficiaries asserting objections to a fiduciary’s accounting.

The McCarthy Fingar Approach in Contested Accountings

Whether defending or challenging a fiduciary’s accounting, our Surrogate’s Court Litigation lawyers bring their many years of experience to develop a strategy on how the case should go forward. Litigation and trials in contested accountings are labor intensive and can sometimes result in an ineffective expenditure of legal fees by clients. As a result, our lawyers often recommend that, prior to filing objections to a fiduciary’s accounting, we, as attorneys for the beneficiaries, obtain as much information and documents on the administration of the estate or trust as possible. Sometimes that examination and inspection is voluntary; sometimes it takes place through a court-authorized process. Following that review, our lawyers make recommendations to a client on how to proceed.

Contact Us

If you think you may require the assistance of McCarthy Fingar’s Surrogate’s Court Litigation group in contested accounting proceedings in Surrogate’s Court, contact Frank W. Streng by email (fstreng@mccarthyfingar.com) or by phone (914-385-1022) or Gail M. Boggio by email (gboggio@mccarthyfingar.com) or phone (914-385-1026) with any question you may have.

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