New York’s Appellate Division has upheld a decision of New York County Surrogate Renee S. Roth which denied a petition aimed at discharging the public administrator. The case is the Estate of Jordan 859 N.Y.S.2d 447. The petition involved an application by first cousins of the decedent to revoke letters of administration previously issued to the public administrator.
Continue Reading Public Administrator Survives Distributees’ Attempt At Removal
Yesterday’s Charlotte Observer has reported on the latest chapter of the turbulent death of James Brown. The South Carolina Court of Appeals has directed that at least 300 items belonging to the late Godfather of Soul are to be auctioned off by Christies in New York on Thursday. The controversy that was part of the life of Brown has continued long after his death on Christmas Day 2006. You may recall that his body was kept in cold storage in his home while a battle raged as to how and where he should be buried. Then there were issues as to whether or not previously unidentified children were entitled to share in his estate. Now there has been a legal battle over the disposition of many items of his personal possessions. With Brown’s former business managers waging a court fight to stop the auction, Judge Jasper Cureton has decided to permit the auction to take place and "sort things out later". Hurry to Christies on July 17th if you want to take a shot at acquiring Brown’s red jump suit, his blue satin cape or some of his hair picks or rollers! One certain thing , however, is that this estate still has some more mileage — and headlines — left, so stay tuned.
The New York Law Journal has recently reported a significant, but bizarre decision concerning the spousal right of election. Brooklyn Surrogate Diana A. Johnson has awarded 47 year old Hua "Judy" Wang one third of the five million dollar estate of her 100 year old husband after a short deathbed marriage. The ruling in the Matter of Berk, 2488/06 has raised more than a few eyebrows –as well as many questions about the law and how it should be applied. Continue Reading Brooklyn Surrogate Awards Elective Share Of 100 Year Old’s Estate To 47 Year Old Nurse/Wife After Deathbed Marriage
Earlier, I reported here about the sad events surrounding the end of the life of former Kings County Civil Court Judge John L. Phillips. Justice Phillips was a well-known and well-loved jurist whose last years were spent in a general decline. Ultimately it was necessary for a guardian to appointed to oversee his affairs. Several different judges and attorneys were appointed to handle that responsibility until the appointment of Emani Taylor Esq. in 2002.
Continue Reading Guardian Ordered To Repay $403,000 To Judge’s Estate
Today’s New York Times reports that the late Leona Helmsley has left a mission statement in connection with a testamentary trust valued as high as eight billion dollars. In it, she directs that virtually the entire fund be applied to the welfare of dogs. While Surrogate Renee R. Roth has already shown a willingness to modify the provisions of Ms. Helmsley’s will to reduce the original twelve million dollar bequest to her dog to two million (!) dollars, the aim of New York law is to determine the true intent of the decedent and to follow his or her wishes as closely as possible. While it is understandable that a court might rail at the idea of leaving twelve million dollars to a single pooch, the trust’s mission statement obviously has a broader intent in mind than the care and feeding of one animal. Since their are numerous organizations dedicated to animal welfare and the advancement of veterinary science, it may very well be that the entire trust will ultimately be applied for the benefit of our nation’s canines –just as the late hotel magnate had obviously wanted.
CNBC has reported that the litigation over the estate of the late hedge fund financier Seth Tobias is settled pending the approval of a Probate Judge in Florida Monday. Last December we reported here about the controversy raging since Tobias was found dead in his swimming pool in Palm Beach County on September 4, 2007. Tobias’ brothers brought suit against his widow Filomena charging that she had murdered him by poisoning his pasta and then luring into a swimming pool on the promise of sex with a male stripper. Continue Reading CNBC Reports Settlement Of Tobias Case
New York’s Fourth Department Appellate Division has handed a stunning blow to the Commandment to "Honor thy father and thy mother" when that Biblical directive conflicts with good old fashioned fiduciary obligations. In Re Mergenhagen 856 N.Y.S.389 reversed an earlier decision of the Erie County (Buffalo) Surrogate Barbara Howe which had dismissed a petition to remove a trustee of two irrevocable trusts and to annul the revocation of one of the trusts. In doing so, the court comes to two interesting findings .
Continue Reading Loyalty To Mother Held Violation Of Fiduciary’s Obligations To Other Beneficiaries
One of the last interviews given by Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis imparted a few words of wisdom which I have always tried to live by. She told her interviewer that the most important accomplishment of her life was getting her children to love each other. Unfortunately, as an article in today’s Long Island Business News shows, this advice is generally honored in the breach. With parents living longer, it appears that guardianship battles between their children are on the increase nationally and attorneys in the practice of elder law are experiencing a litigation component of their practices which they had never anticipated. The sibling rivalries of childhood are now played out by baby boomer adults across the country in courtrooms where the prize is which sibling gets to take care of an aging parent — and control that parent’s fortune. As the article reports in an update of the litigation surrounding New Jersey widow Lillian Glasser (a topic often found in this blog), millions of dollars can be in play as families are torn asunder and an entire new discipline is developing in order to focus upon new ways to deal with the problems caused by these disputes.
In the past, I have reported here about the need for a uniform guardianship law in order to prevent elder kidnapping to gain control of a senior citizen’s estate. The case of Lillian Glasser made headlines two years ago when it took a federal court to unsnarl a legal imbroglio between a New Jersey widow and her children when her daughter attempted to keep her in Texas by obtaining an order from a Dallas probate judge while her mother was visiting her. The Hartford Courant reported on May 9th on a similar and even more horrifying case.
Today’s Greenwich Post reports that a one million dollar settlement negoiated with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines by Jennifer Hagel Smith has been upheld by Connecticut Probate Judge David Hopper. You may remember that Ms. Hagel Smith’s husband George Smith IV mysteriously disappeared from the cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas on the couple’s honeymoon cruise in the Aegean Sea in July 2005. Continue Reading Probate Court Upholds Wrongful Death Settlement Between Widow And Cruise Line