John M. McFaul focuses his practice on Surrogate Court litigation and personal, family and business planning.

With over 35 years of experience, John has been involved in virtually every type of litigation concerning trusts and estates before the Surrogate’s Court and other courts. His Surrogate’s Court litigation practice includes matters involving contested probates, trusts, and accountings, as well as wrongful death and discovery proceedings.

John has established himself in the Surrogate’s Court and the Trusts and Estates Bar as a leading “kinship” attorney. As a kinship attorney, John represents clients who claim to be distributees of estates in formal ‘kinship proceedings’ before the Surrogate’s Court to establish their rights of inheritance. John has been involved in hundreds of kinship proceedings throughout the United States and the world, primarily in Western and Eastern Europe.

Before entering into private practice, John served as an associate to the counsel of the Public Administrator of Queens County, and later was appointed substitute counsel to the Public Administrator by the Queens County Surrogate.

John is the author of “Kinship and Status Hearings,” an outline that has been employed by the New York State’s Surrogate’s Association, the Surrogate’s Court Chief Clerks Association, and the Surrogate’s Court Law Association. John’s publication also is included in “Guidelines for Guardians Ad Litem,” a training manual used by the New York Unified Court System.

In addition to authoring many publications, John has lectured before the New York State Bar Association and the Queens County Bar Association, as well as private and civic organizations. He recently spoke at a Queens County Bar Association seminar, moderated by the Surrogate of Queens County, on the impact of recent tax law changes on estate planning.