A man had separated from his wife and died on November 19, 1983 in Pennsylvania where he was admittedly residing. He was survived by his wife and two adult sons. On December 5, 1983, a petition for probate of the deceased man’s last will and its supplement was filed by…
In paragraph third of a will, a deceased woman made twenty-seven gifts to individuals and charitable institutions thereto. Each of the endowments was described as consisting of a fixed percentage of her property. The parties are in dispute as to whether the language of gift requires that the legacies be…
This is a case involving the estate of a decedent who was a national of British Honduras and left properties located in New York and other countries. The decedent left no legitimate heirs and part of the properties he left involved certificates of stocks from 50 corporations and other banks…
This is a decision of the Supreme Court deciding jointly five cases where despite the existence of will that can be admitted into probate, the parties who could be beneficiaries under these wills decided to ask instead for letters of administration. The surrogate courts, in its discretion, thinking it wiser…
A man had a son and two daughters. In 1995, the father and the son had a falling out. In December 1996, the father made a will leaving all of his real and personal properties to his two daughters in equal shares. The son was left out of the will…
An 89-year old woman had retired and had been living in Florida. But, she executed a will in New York in front of witnesses who were from New York. Seven months after executing her will, she died in New York and was buried in New York. The will contained about…
The probate courts have reviewed an agreement between parties regarding settlement of estates, which was skillfully done by a highly trained court appointee to take care the personal and property interest of one of decedent’s sister who was sick. Decedent had written a will. In his will, he named his…
A testator in her lifetime made a will. Her husband and three children outlived her. The will was brought to a probate court for legal procedure. Named in the instrument were the three adult children as co-executor with full power over the estate of the decedent. Not mentioned in the…
Surrogate’s Court, entered and admitted the document to probate as the last will and testament of testator. The decedent, a physician, married his first wife who died before probate of the will. Testator’s daughters from his first wife petition the court for probate the will testators have written in their…
A man from New York City executed a Will and its appendices and named a German Catholic Church his principal beneficiary in his last will and testament. The Will was challenged by the executors of a prior will executed in 1972. The appellant firm that represented the deceased man appealed…