Long Island

Published on: July 9, 2012

Court Says Larger Estate Doesnt Justify Larger Fees

by Stephen Bilkis

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 shares, two of which pass to the woman’s sisters, the elder sister and younger sister. The will directs that the third equal share be paid over to the woman’s niece, who is the nominated executor and the petitioner. It makes no mention of the woman’s third surviving sister who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. A New York Probate Lawyer said waivers of citation were filed on behalf of 15 heirs, and jurisdiction was obtained over the remaining three interested parties, including the third sister. None of the heirs raised will contests. Preliminary letters were issued to the petitioner on May 19, 2009 and the letters have been extended upon application.

The court appointed guardian on behalf of the third sister is a guardian for incompetent persons. His report reflects that the probate estate was valued at approximately $570,000.00 and that there were non-testamentary assets of $292,000.00, including $200,000.00 held in joint accounts which named the petitioner as the joint tenant. The guardian ad litem also discovered that the petitioner had established the joint accounts using a power of attorney executed by the woman. He further learned that the last will had been prepared on the basis of telephoned instructions from the petitioner to an attorney, and that the will execution had not been supervised by an attorney. Additionally, based upon information uncovered by the guardian ad litem, which included medical records, serious questions were raised concerning the woman’s competency at the time the will was executed.

Published on: July 8, 2012

Petitioner Files Application to Modify Trust

by Stephen Bilkis

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 Trust) established under the decedent’s will in lieu of the petitioner.

On 16 January 1969, the will was admitted to probate (for estate litigation, estate administration or will contest). The will sets forth various charitable beneficiaries. Article Fifth of the will for which relief is sought bequeaths the entire residuary estate to a trust for the benefit of a Child Care Society. Article Fifth further provides for the invasion of the principal of the trust annually until the trust and corpus is exhausted. A New York Probate Lawyer said the Testamentary Trust has a remaining principal of approximately $90,000.

Published on: July 1, 2012

Court Hears Allegations of Fraud and Undue Infuence

by Stephen Bilkis

A petition for probate was filed. A contestant came forward in the probate proceeding contesting the due execution of the will and contesting as well the testamentary capacity of the testator. The contestant in his objection made general allegations of fraud and undue influence against the proponent of the will.

The proponent of the will then filed a motion for a bill of particulars. He demands that the party contesting the will be made to state specifically the acts or omissions as well as the time, the date, and the place where the specific acts of fraud and undue influence were perpetrated by him against the testator.

The Court is faced with the question of the extent a proponent may require a will contestant to provide specific and particular details of the fraud and undue influence he claims were committed by the proponent.

Published on: June 30, 2012

Will Contest Filed Based on Domocile of Decedent

by Stephen Bilkis

A citizen of the United States and resident of Kings County had lived most of his life in Kings County and has acquired properties and interests there. However, in the last years of his life he has lived in Casablanca in the Northern African French Protectorate of Morocco.

The Surrogate’s Court of Kings County entertained the probate petition but soon a will contestant appeared and filed his objection stating that the testator was already domiciled in Casablanca, Morocco at the time of his death.

The petitioner and the will contestant agreed to reserve the issue of determining the domicile of the testator until after the executor has filed a preliminary accounting/inventory of the properties comprising the estate of the testator.

Published on: June 29, 2012

Court Discusses Jurisdiction Issue Regarding Probate Proceedings

by Stephen Bilkis

A woman died in October 1951. She executed a last will and testament nine years earlier in 1942. This will was submitted for probate and was admitted into probate in St. Lawrence County. The legatees of a more recent will allegedly executed by the woman in June 1951 four months prior to her death, was also submitted for probate in Kings County.

The woman was born in St. Lawrence County. The testator was a licensed public school teacher and she has been assigned in various public schools up and down St. Lawrence County until she was thirty-three years old. St. Lawrence is her domicile of origin. In two periods of her life from February 1898 until September 1926 and again from March 1928 until January 1935, the woman was assigned in different schools in the different counties of New York.

When she got married, she lived with her husband for years in Lincoln, Nebraska. Later, in 1929, she and her husband left Lincoln, Nebraska and moved back to Brooklyn, New York. They later moved to a new house on Island Park, Long Island also in New York. A New York Probate Lawyer said until much later, when her husband had died, she sold the two houses she and her husband acquired at Island Park, Long Island.

Published on: June 28, 2012

Petitioners Request Letters of Administration

by Stephen Bilkis

A woman died on October 26, 2000. The alleged last will and testament was executed on March 23, 1995. Under the last will and testament, the woman left her estate to her two sisters, or the survivor. She named her elder sister as executor and the younger sister as successor. The elder sister predeceased the woman without issue. As a result, the entire estate was passed to the younger sister.

In 2005, the younger sister petitioned for the appointment of a guardian of her property. The court, finding that the younger sister had a history of poor judgment with regard to her real and personal property management, appointed the petitioners, a niece, and a friend, as guardians of the woman’s property.

A New York Probate Lawyer said in May, 2007, a judge authorized the petitioners to petition to probate the 1995 will. By this time, the original could not be located and the petitioners petitioned to probate a copy of the 1995 will as a lost will. The affidavit of the friend in support states that she located the copy among the woman’s important papers after her death. While the deceased woman must have had the original will, her house had been sold and the purchaser threw away all of the deceased woman’s papers. The affirmation of the deceased woman’s friend states that after the woman’s death, her home was taken over by her former handyman who threw away all of her papers.

Published on: June 21, 2012

Court Decides Non-Marital Child’s Status

by Stephen Bilkis

In a probate proceeding, two non-marital children have moved to have their status as children entitled to benefits under the after-born statute determined. In a prior decision, the court ruled that any question regarding a party’s status in a probate proceeding should be determined as a preliminary matter and stayed all other proceedings.

A New York Probate Lawyer said that rather than question any of the underlying facts, such as proof of paternity, the parties have consented to have the motion submitted assuming the truth of the non-marital children’s allegations for a determination of whether as a matter of law those allegations state a cause of action entitling the claimants to after-born status.

The father of the children died and was survived by eleven children; three from a first marriage, four from a second marriage and the four alleged non-marital children. The will offered for probate benefits only one child from the first marriage, the petitioner and named executor, who inherits the entire estate valued at several million dollars.

Published on: June 20, 2012

Probate Court Discusses Cy Pres Doctrine

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts:

On 1 November 1995, a doctor (“the doctor”) died. On 8 July 1996, his will was admitted to probate (for estate administration or estate litigation). Under the will, the doctor bequeathed $3,500,000 to a hospital (“the Hospital”), to be held as the Endowment Fund in perpetuity, with the income only to be used for general purposes. This was in addition to the $1,000,000 that he and his wife gave the hospital for the same purpose in December of 1988. In addition, the doctor bequeathed 5% of his residuary estate (up to a maximum of $10 million) and one quarter of the balance of the residuary estate to the hospital. His will directed that these amounts be added to the Endowment Fund and administered under the conditions established under the will. The hospital received approximately $37,000,000 from the estate of the doctor dedicated to the Endowment Fund.

On 8 April 1998, the doctor’s wife (“the wife”) died. On 30 December 1998, her will was admitted to probate. Under the will, she bequeathed $4,000,000 to the same aforesaid hospital as the Endowment Fund, to be held either in perpetuity with the income to be used for general purposes, or in part or in whole for the construction or acquisition of a building to be called in their names. In addition, she left 20% of her residuary estate to the hospital, to be added to the Endowment Fund and administered under the conditions established under the will. A New York Probate Lawyer said the hospital received approximately $98,000,000 from the estate of the wife dedicated to the Endowment Fund.

Published on: June 18, 2012

Court Discusses Non-marital Child Entitlement in Will Contest

by Stephen Bilkis

In a probate proceeding, two non-marital children have moved to have their status as children entitled to benefits under the after-born statute determined. In a prior decision, the court ruled that any question regarding a party’s status in a probate proceeding should be determined as a preliminary matter and stayed all other proceedings.

Rather than question any of the underlying facts, such as proof of paternity, the parties have consented to have the motion submitted assuming the truth of the non-marital children’s allegations for a determination of whether as a matter of law those allegations state a cause of action entitling the claimants to after-born status.

A New York Probate Lawyer said the father of the children died and was survived by eleven children; three from a first marriage, four from a second marriage and the four alleged non-marital children. The will offered for probate benefits only one child from the first marriage, the petitioner and named executor, who inherits the entire estate valued at several million dollars.

Published on: June 17, 2012

Beneficiary Contests Last Minute Change to Will

by Stephen Bilkis

A man died at age 84 and he is a resident of Westchester County. The man’s sole heir is his 15-year-old granddaughter who is the daughter of his estranged son who predeceased the man in 2004. A New York Probate Lawyer said the man was also survived by 10 nieces and nephews, including the complainant nephew and the opponent niece. The man had been married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce — the second of which was finalized shortly before the man’s death.

The following pertinent facts have been gleaned from transcripts of pre-trial testimony given by the nephew and the niece and from affidavits submitted on their behalf. Around October 2004, shortly after the man underwent quadruple by-pass surgery, the man’s second spouse, left the man and purportedly seized nearly $140,000.00 of assets held in a joint account in their names. Over the next two years, the man was beset with numerous physical ailments such as pneumonia, broken shoulder, diabetes and kidney-related problems, which caused him to be hospitalized and undergo physical rehabilitation on numerous occasions during that period.

Shortly after the second spouse left him, the man contacted the nephew, who was the man’s personal accountant since the late 1990’s, in order to gain his assistance in trying to recover from his second wife the proceeds from the joint account. At that time, the man informed his nephew that under his then-existing will (executed in or around 1993), he had bequeathed his entire estate to his second wife, and he wanted to change his testamentary plan to bequeath his estate to his nephew and/or his nephew’s son. Thereupon, the nephew who resides in Rockland County contacted her counsel of record in the instant proceeding — with whom petitioner has had a mutual professional relationship for client referrals since the late 1990’s.