Jason W. Stern

Estate litigation and planning. New York and New Jersey.

Bringing over three decades of expertise to estate litigation and planning. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (B.A.) and Hofstra University School of Law (J.D.), he began his career at the Yankowitz Law Firm before founding Jason W. Stern & Associates in 2002. Today, he leads the firm’s Trusts and Estates Department.

Mr. Stern has built his practice on the drafting and probating of wills for New Yorkers while establishing himself as a leading will contest lawyer. He holds a distinguished record for overturning fraudulently drafted wills, far outpacing peers in recovering estate assets for defrauded beneficiaries. The firm has secured tens of millions of dollars for clients, including non-marital children in groundbreaking paternity cases. Notably, Mr. Stern and his partner Matt Hunter litigated one of the largest paternity estate battles in U.S. history, valued at over $200 million.

A pioneer in kinship cases, also known as cousins cases, Mr. Stern excels in proving lineage for claimants when distant loved ones pass without wills or close surviving relatives. With seven decades of combined experience, he and Mr. Hunter have mastered reconstructing intricate family trees, ensuring rightful heirs recover funds that might otherwise be lost to New York’s Department of Finance. The firm also champions the prosecution of adoptees’ inheritance rights cases, helping clients claim New York estate assets they might not have known were theirs.

Beyond the courtroom, Jason Stern has lectured extensively on estate planning and medical malpractice, authored numerous articles, and served as Chair of the Queens County Bar Association Judiciary Committee. His peers have honored him with an EX rating, the highest for legal ability and ethics, and the Super Lawyers New York Metro Rising Stars Award from 2013 to 2017 for his success in contesting attorney-drafted wills.

Admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, Mr. Stern is a member of the Queens County and New York State Bar Associations. His career is marked by recovering tens of millions in misappropriated estate funds, including emotionally charged Holocaust survivor cases.