Estate Planning on Long Island: Nassau & Suffolk Surrogate’s Courts

Estate planning on Long Island means arranging how your home, accounts, and possessions pass when you die or become incapacitated — governed by New York’s Estate, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL). Unlike New York City, Long Island is split across two separate jurisdictions: a Nassau County estate is handled by the Nassau County Surrogate’s Court in Mineola, and a Suffolk County estate by the Suffolk County Surrogate’s Court in Riverhead. Which court applies depends entirely on the county where you were domiciled.

This page is an orientation hub, not a sales pitch. It explains what estate planning involves for the typical Long Island household — and points you to in-depth guides on each document and process.

Why Long Island estate planning is different

Most Long Island estates are built around a single-family home the owner holds as real property — not the co-op shares that dominate Manhattan and Brooklyn estates. That distinction matters: real property title transfers through the estate and is recorded at the county clerk, and New York has no transfer-on-death (TOD) deed, so your house generally cannot skip probate by deed alone.

Add to that the assets common across the Island — a boat moored in a Great South Bay marina, a small family business in Hicksville or Patchogue, an inherited two-family in Levittown, or an East-End second home in Southampton — and you have estates that are asset-rich, frequently real-estate-heavy, and exposed to New York’s estate tax “cliff” when home values have appreciated for decades. This hub is built for those households: Nassau and Suffolk homeowners who want their property to pass cleanly to the next generation.

Start here: the seven pillars

• Wills under New York law — what a will controls, the EPTL 3-2.1 execution rules, and what happens if you die without one.
• Trusts and probate avoidance — revocable living trusts, Medicaid asset protection trusts, and why a funded trust keeps your home out of Surrogate’s Court.
• Power of attorney & health care proxy — the incapacity documents every Long Island adult should have.
• New York and federal estate taxes — the NY “cliff,” exemptions, and how appreciated homes trigger exposure.
• The probate process — the step-by-step path through Nassau or Suffolk Surrogate’s Court.
• Your Long Island estate guide — the deep local resource on both courts, county quirks, and filing realities.
• Frequently asked questions — quick, statute-grounded answers scoped to Nassau and Suffolk.

How estate planning works on Long Island (at a glance)

1. Inventory what you own — house, accounts, retirement plans, life insurance, vehicles, boats, business interests.
2. Decide who receives what and who will serve as executor, trustee, and agents.
3. Sign core documents — a will (and often a revocable trust), durable power of attorney, and health care proxy, executed to NY formalities.
4. Title and beneficiary alignment — coordinate deeds and beneficiary designations so they match your plan.
5. Fund any trust you create, retitling the home and accounts into it.
6. Review periodically after a move between Nassau and Suffolk, a marriage, a birth, or a major asset change.

For the full local walkthrough, see the Long Island estate guide.

Local court & statute snapshot

Common questions

Is “Long Island probate” one court? No. Nassau and Suffolk are separate counties with separate Surrogate’s Courts; the decedent’s domicile county controls. See the FAQ.

Do I need a trust if I own a Long Island home? Often yes — a funded revocable trust keeps the house out of probate. See trusts.

What happens if I die without a will? New York’s intestacy statute, EPTL 4-1.1, distributes your estate by family relationship. See wills.

About this resource

This site is published by Morgan Legal Group, led by attorney Russel Morgan, a New York estate and probate practice. The content focuses exclusively on New York EPTL and SCPA law as it applies to Nassau and Suffolk County residents.

Talk it through

If you’d like to map your own plan, you can book a 30-minute consultation with Russel Morgan: schedule via Calendly. This page is informational and does not create an attorney-client relationship.