Kings County Surrogate Lopez-Torres has ruled against a wife attempting to set aside a prenuptial agreement in the Estate of Joseph Menahem. In a decision reported in the New York Law Journal on September 10th the court declined to nullify the agreement on grounds of undue influence, fraud or the lack of mental capacity to knowingly execute the agreement.
Continue Reading Wife’s Bipolar Disorder Held Not To Affect Judgment –Prenuptial Agreement Upheld

The Surrogate of New York’s Onandaga County has issued a ruling in the Matter of Probate Proceeding of the Will of Sylvia P. Huntington  839 N.Y.S. 2d 909 that a professional corporation was not a "natural person" eligible to serve as executor of a will
Continue Reading Professional Corporation Held To Be Unqualified To Serve As Executor Of Will

The Third Department Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court has made an unusual ruling in the Matter of Palma, NY Slip Op 03805. It has upheld a decision of the Schenectady County Surrogate which granted a motion to remove a preliminary executrix without first holding a hearing. The lower court had found that the preliminary executrix was conflicted to the point where she could not serve as a fiduciary.
Continue Reading Surrogate’s Removal Of Preliminary Executor Without A Hearing Is Affirmed

Monroe County Surrogate Edmund A. Calvaruso has extended the time of an objectant to a will to file objections even though the Surrogate Court Procedure Act normally provides that this take place within ten days of the examination. In the Matter of Kryk  2007 NY Slip Op 50966(U) which was decided on May 10, the Surrogate balanced the published time limits set forth in the black letter law with the responsibility of the court to make a proper determination as to the validity of the will.
Continue Reading Surrogate Extends Statutory Time To File 1404 Objections

The famed jeweler Harry Winston died on December 8, 1978. Nearly thirty years later New York’s Second Department Appellate Division  has ruled in the Matter of Harry Winston NY Slip Op3319 that Mr. Winston’s trustees acted appropriately pursuant to an accounting filed in 1982 over the objections of his son Bruce Winston and other members of the family  who claimed that the trustee Deutsche Bank Trust Company  New York breached its fiduciary duty by failing to properly value the stock at the inception of the trust.
Continue Reading Court Upholds Harry Winston Trustees Over Family Objections

The Estate of Rudolph G. Gulbrandsen NY Slip Op 50814(U) presents some interesting aspects of the issue of conflict of interest involving a fiduciary. The decision, by Dutchess County Surrogate James D. Pagones was republished on May 15 at page 23 of the New York Law Journal and deals with the case of Sara Jane Gulbrandsen who was convicted of killing her husband Rudolph and is now serving a prison sentence for that crime.Continue Reading Conflict Of Interest Must Involve Actual Misconduct To Warrant Removal Of Fiduciary

New York’s Fourth Department Appellate Division has ruled against an attempt at revoking a waiver and consent to probate in theMatter of the Estate of Ashley Robert Titus 2007 Slip Op 3435. In this action, the petitioner was a CPA with a Masters in business administration who signed the document before a Surrogate and…

A recent decision of New York State’s Third Appellate Division reversed the Albany County Surrogate in the Matter of the Estate of Frederick A. Scale 830N.Y.S.2d 618(A.D. 3 Dept 2007). It was determined that the lower court had wrongfully relied upon the affidavit of a will drafter rather than looking to the testator’s true intent as to which charitable organization he wished to have benefit from his estate.
Continue Reading Testator’s True Intent Must Be Determined In Construction Proceeding