New York Practice Guide: Probate and Estate Administration

Jennifer F. Hillman is a Partner at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C. Her practice includes all manner of Surrogate’s Court proceedings including accounting proceedings, probate contests, discovery proceedings, and commercial litigation related to estates. She practices in the Surrogate’s Courts as well as the trial and appellate courts throughout New York.

She also has substantial experience in trial and appellate advocacy, and has handled a variety of commercial cases including contractual disputes, restrictive covenants, unfair competition, partnership disputes, and real estate litigation.

Jennifer is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate counsel ("ACTEC"). She is an active member of the New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section where she serves on the executive committee as an officer. She formerly served as chair of the Estate Litigation Committee and co-chair of the Government Relations and Legislation Committee, where she actively assisted the Trust and Estates Section in promoting new legislation. Several of her own legislative proposals have been signed into law. She is a member of the Nassau County Bar Association where she serves as co- chair of the Surrogates Court Committee. She is a member of the Nassau County Women’s Bar Association and is on the Board of Directors of the Nassau County Women's Bar Foundation.

Jennifer has lectured on probate and trust issues to the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association and the Suffolk County Bar Association. She has cowritten many articles for the New York Law Journal, and is a contributor to the Lexis Nexis Estate Practice and Elder Law Community on a variety of issues related to estate litigation.

Lois Bladykas is an Associate at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., where she is a member of the firm’s Trusts and Estates Department and Estate Litigation Practice Group.

Lois’s practice focuses on estate and trust litigation, probate, estate administration, and estate planning. This includes all manner of Surrogate’s Court proceedings including probate contests, accounting proceedings, discovery proceedings, and other complex disputes between beneficiaries and fiduciaries. She represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in Surrogate’s Courts as well as trial and appellate courts throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Lois is an active member of the New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Law Section, where she serves as Chair of the Membership and Law Students Committee. Lois is also a member of the New York State Bar Association Membership Committee and Nassau County Bar Association Surrogate’s Court Committee.

During law school, Lois was an Associate Managing Editor of the Brooklyn Law Review, as well as an active member of the Moot Court Honor Society, Appellate Division. She was a participant in the 2015 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria where her team was awarded Honorable Mention for their Respondent’s Brief. Lois was the recipient of a CALI Award (highest grade) in International Sales, and the winner of the Judge Nathan R. Sobel Prize (highest grade) in Criminal Law.

Lois is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey.