Meltzer Lippe in the Forefront of Aiding Victims’ Families of The World Trade Center/Pentagon Tragedies

By Stuart Markus
Long Island Business News
October 5, 2001

The bar associations of both Suffolk and Nassau counties as well as a number of law firms are offering legal services pro-bono to the next-of-kin of World Trade Center victims to help expedite the issuance of death certificates and handle their estates.

It normally takes about three years to get a death certificate for someone who has been declared "missing." However in the wake of the attack and collapse of the buildings, and the acknowledgement that many bodies may never be recovered, procedures have been instituted that will shorten that to one to two weeks. All such requests are being handled at a single office in Manhattan, said Irwin Scherago, a partner in the trusts and estates department of Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Schlissel.

Scherago said that family members should bring any kind of identifying documents - a passport, for example - of the deceased to the meeting with the lawyer. They should also bring their own ID and something to document the relationship, such as a marriage certificate or birth certificate, which lists the parents' names.

Once the death certificate is issued, family members must petition for a "letter testamentary" if the deceased had a will, or a "letter of administration" if he didn't, allowing the executor or administrator authority to settle the estate.

Until then, Scherago advised, if a surviving spouse held a joint bank account with the victim, he or she can still access the money in that account. Also, it is fairly common to have a "power of attorney" form on file with a brokerage or securities account. The person named on the form is usually a spouse or family member - and can access funds from that account as well.

For the free service, contact the Nassau County Bar at (516) 747-4070, or the Suffolk County Bar at (631) 654-4900.