DYKER HEIGHTS — The Bay Ridge Lawyers Association (BRLA) held its monthly shindig and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar at Mama Rao’s Jan. 29, whereby Hon. Rosemarie Montalbano discussed the “Filing of a Probate and Administration in Kings County Surrogate Court.”
‘Death affects us all’!
Rosemarie Montalbano, elected to the Surrogate Court of Kings County in 2021, told the Brooklyn Eagle that as a Surrogate Court judge, she predominantly hears cases involving the affairs of decedents, including the probate of wills, and the administration of estates, guardianships, and adoptions.
“It’s an interesting area of the law because even if you don’t practice Surrogate Court work, death affects us all,” Montalbano said. “I’d like people to walk away after today’s seminar thinking, ‘I really need to speak to my children, my spouse, my mother, and my grandmother about what the plan is and how to best preserve generational wealth.’”
Montalbano pointed out that technology also plays a crucial part in the filing process.
“We have practitioners that have been practicing Trust and Estates for 30 years, and the digital age is still new to them; they are old school and need to be educated,” she explained.
“I’m here to offer tips based on my experience,” Montalbano continued. “For example, a death certificate must be an original, and if it isn’t, it gets bounced back; that’s how delays happen. This may seem like common knowledge, but it occurs more often than it should.”
Montalbano, a graduate of St. John’s University and Western New England University School of Law, has previously lectured on various topics, including domestic violence, elder abuse, ethics, wrongful death compromises, and surrogate practice.
