Most people will rarely bother to make a concerted effort to educate themselves when it comes to dealing with trusts, wills, and probate. The very thought of what happens in the wake of someone’s death is something people avoid quite actively. It just so happens that the matter of estate planning also comes under the umbrella of death.
It’s understandable you might want to make an active effort to circumvent even the thought of creating a will, probate, or trust. You cannot deny the fact that it is a critical part of life, especially when you have other people who are dependent on you.
People know very little about the matter of the distribution of the assets they own after they pass on. From the little information people do have about wills, let alone probates, it is likely that it is from what they have seen in TV shows and movies.
What is discussed on television shows or movies regarding legal matters is just there for entertainment. Wills are used as a tool to create a more compelling story to tell on the screen. The only issue is, many people tend to rely on the little or incorrect information they absorb from unreliable sources.
With little to no knowledge, the information you do have is likely from unreliable sources. That is not good. There is a chance you might have started believing in some misconceptions and myths about wills and probates. This can be problematic when the time comes that you do have to think about creating a will and work with a will attorney in New York.
It is always better to resort to a good will attorney in New York to ask for more information regarding all the intricacies of making a will. Let’s discuss some common misconceptions people have regarding probates and wills so that you know all the facts.

1. If you don’t have a will ready by the time you die, the state takes everything you own
This is the first, and the most worrisome myth, you should do away with. A person can have plenty of reasons to make the decision to write up a will and last testament. The fear of the government not letting you leave anything behind for your children should definitely not be one of them.
There is a difference in the laws of each state, and when it comes to estate planning in New York, the matter of the state taking your property in its own name is a rarity. If you were to happen to die without creating a will, your children and spouse will be the ones to inherit the assets or properties in your name.
Only when you are not survived by any relatives will your properties pass on to the control of the state. If, for some reason, you want to entrust someone else with your inheritance after you die instead of your family, an experienced will attorney in New York can offer you the advice you are looking for.
2. Probate can span several years
A major misconception when it comes to probates is that it can take a lot of years. This is actually one of the first things that anybody wonders about. Anybody who is writing a will wants to make sure that the whole process takes as little time as possible after they die. While probate does not take half a decade, it is a process that requires some time.Experienced estate planning lawyers in New York will tell you that the process typically takes two to six months. Typically, you can expect the whole process to be completed in three months. Even in the simplest probate cases, you can expect three months of time since collecting all the relevant information about the client, preparing all the documents for court and signing them does take its own time.Probates rarely ever take years, but they do take their time. If you want to avoid getting into the affair altogether, contact a will attorney in New York so you can go for a better alternative.
3. The parent’s oldest child is entitled to become the executor of the estate
It is not surprising but a lot of people have the misconception that being the eldest sibling, they are the ones entitled to execute the estate of their parents. Whether this notion comes from watching movies, or just because they were the biggest and strongest when everyone was younger, it does not hold true.
In case you did not make a will, they being the oldest child carry absolutely zero weight in being the executor. In case there is no executor assigned in the will, the court will assign who becomes the executor. There are a lot of factors the state takes into consideration before they appoint the executor of an estate.
Most of the time, courts assign a surviving spouse. If there are none, the state prioritizes adult children. Multiple siblings can even decide to become co-executors of the estate. If you were to ever ask a will attorney in New York, they would advise that just one of the children should take on the responsibility of being the executor.
Often times, multiple executors can experience friction among them. This can lead to delays, driving the costs of settling the estate much higher than it should be. It can also lead to the court taking matters into their own hands to settle the estate.