About Morgan Legal Group & Russel Morgan: NYC Probate Authority

This resource is published by Morgan Legal Group, a New York estate and probate practice led by attorney Russel Morgan, focused on guiding families through New York City’s five-borough Surrogate’s Court system. Everything here is written to reflect how probate actually works in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island — the right court by domicile, the co-op and condo realities, and the EPTL/SCPA rules that govern NYC estates.

Attorney Russel Morgan

Russel Morgan is the attorney behind Morgan Legal Group and a New York–licensed lawyer whose practice centers on estate planning, probate, and estate administration. His work concentrates on the procedural reality of New York’s Surrogate’s Courts and the asset types that define city estates — cooperative apartments, condominiums, brownstones, and the high-value holdings that put NYC families on the edge of the state estate-tax cliff. (Specific credentials and admissions should be confirmed on the firm’s primary site.)

Our approach to NYC probate

We built this site around a single observation: “New York City probate” is really five separate probates, routed by the decedent’s borough of domicile under SCPA 205-206, and almost always involving an asset — the co-op — that transfers unlike a normal house. Generic “New York estate” advice misses both. Our content names the right court, the right statute, and the practical step (like co-op board approval) that off-the-shelf guides skip.

Why trust this information

NY-law focus. Content is grounded in the Estate, Powers & Trusts Law (EPTL) and Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA), cited by section, with plain-English explanation.
Local specificity. We reference the actual courts (31 Chambers Street in Manhattan, 2 Johnson Street in Brooklyn) and the asset realities of real NYC neighborhoods.
Experience-driven. The guidance reflects recurring patterns in real five-borough estates — co-op transfers, kinship questions, cliff exposure — not abstractions.
Honest about uncertainty. Where a figure changes annually (estate-tax exemptions, fee schedules), we say so and tell you to verify the current number rather than risk a stale one.

The Morgan Legal Group entity

Morgan Legal Group is part of an established New York estate-law presence. Its authoritative profile and full firm information live at the firm’s main site, morganlegalny.com, which serves as the canonical entity reference for verifying who stands behind this content.

Service area

We focus on the five boroughs of New York City and their Surrogate’s Courts: New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Queens County, Bronx County, and Richmond County (Staten Island). Whichever borough your estate belongs to by domicile, our content is written for that court. See the five-borough estate guide.

Editorial standard

This site’s content is prepared and reviewed by a New York–licensed attorney for accuracy under current NY law. It is general information, not legal advice for your specific situation, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For guidance on your estate, speak with an attorney directly.