This case is being heard in the Special Term of the Suffolk County Supreme Court. The case deals with the will of Gladys Guernsey. The plaintiff in the case is the executor of the last will and testament of Gladys Guernsey, Patrick Beary. The defendants in the case are Leach…
Articles Posted in New York City
Court Finds Clear Error in Will
This is a matter involving the estate of Eugenia C. Herceg who is deceased. The petitioner is represented by the law firm of Levene, Gouldin & Thomas, with John H. Hartman for counsel. Case Background In the will of Eugenia Herceg there is a residuary clause that is dated the…
Sibling Claims Decedent was a Victim of Undue Influence
An 87 year old bachelor died on May 12, 1992. He had an estate that was worth $7,000,000. He left his estate to his sister, his brother and the two children of his brother who died before him. He also named the three children of his sister as his heirs.…
Court Decides if Surrogates Court Abused its DIscretion
The Facts: The Respondent found among the decedent’s effects a purported will signed by the decedent but with the signatures of the witnesses torn off and missing. The respondent claims that the attorney whose name appears on the back of the will does not remember the alleged will or attending…
Court Decides if Letters Testamentary Should be Issued
A man who had three children by a first marriage married a woman who had five children of her own. When she married her husband, her husband sold the house he owned and moved into the house of his second wife. Sometime in Aprill 22, 2009, the man died a…
Jurisdiction Issue Decided
A testator was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York but after he got married, he lived with his wife in Florida. Later, the testator and his wife resided in Phoenix, Arizona. While they resided in Phoenix, Arizona, the testator’s wife died. It was around April 2004 that he executor…
First Wife Petitions Will
A man married a woman sometime on February 11, 1921 while they were residents of New York state. A year later, the man filed a case for annulment of his marriage in King’s County. He claimed that the woman he married falsely represented herself. He court dismissed the petition for…
Court Says Larger Estate Doesnt Justify Larger Fees
A woman resident died on February 15, 2009, leaving a last will and testament dated June 28, 2007. She was survived by 19 statutory heirs, including four siblings and the 15 children of four predeceased siblings. The last will and testament leaves all of the woman’s property in three equal…
Petitioner Files Application to Modify Trust
The Facts: On 13 April 1968, a woman (hereinafter The Decedent) died leaving a will. The petitioner, a Child Care Society (hereinafter Child Care Society), seeks to modify the decedent’s will to designate a Residence for Boys (hereinafter Residence for Boys) as a beneficiary of a testamentary trust (hereinafter Testamentary…
Court Decides Validity of Will
The Facts: On 11 March 2011, a decedent died testate at the age of 91. She was survived by one child. Under her will dated 18 November 2010, decedent gave her personal property to her child, $6,000 to Children International, $10,000 to another individual, the proceeds of an insurance policy…