New York City

Published on: April 1, 2014

Court Rules on Case Involving Lost Will

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said in this Will Contest proceeding, a motion was filed for the allowance of an attorney from testifying at an examination before trial, and for a further order precluding the respondent for failure to file an adequate bill of particulars.

A New York Will Lawyer said that in August 1980, the decedent consulted another attorney, in connection with the preparation of a new will which because of her death shortly thereafter was never prepared or executed. The lawyer has been briefly examined, the examination was interrupted in order to obtain rulings from the court in regard to the attorney-client privilege.

While an attorney will generally not be compelled to testify as to matters revealed to him by his client within the course of his professional employment, there are, however, several exceptions, one of which permits an attorney “to disclose information as to the preparation, execution, or revocation of any will or other relevant instrument” in an action involving the probate, validity, or construction of a will. The proponent argues that this exception clearly applies in the instant proceeding.

Published on: March 29, 2014

Petitioner Brings Case to Probate Lost Will

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said that a probate proceeding was brought by the Petitioner for the probate of a lost will purportedly executed by her decedent brother.

A New York Will Lawyer said that the decedent died in September 2005. A will executed on in 2003, which provided for his wife, and his three children was admitted to probate by this court in 2005. The petitioner in this proceeding seeks to admit a later instrument to probate as a lost will and revoke the earlier will’s probate decree. The allegations contained in the petition may be summarized as follows. Before he died, in 2005, decedent sought the services of his long-time attorney to change the 2003 Will in light of changing circumstances with his wife, specifically her commencement of divorce proceedings against the decedent. As a result of his discussions with the lawyer, the decedent had a new will prepared, the final version of which was completed and then executed by decedent in August 2005.

The terms of the 2005 will differ significantly from the terms of the 2003 Will. The 2005 Will reduced the wife’s share to her elective share, it left nothing to the decedent’s two children and the terms of an option to purchase the decedent’s businesses granted to decedent’s son which existed under the 2003 Will as well, were much less favorable to him under the 2005 Will. Also, the 2003 Will provides for a single executor, while the 2005 Will provides for three executors, and petitioner. The petitioner in this lost will proceeding is the decedent’s sister. Relevant to this motion is the nature of the relationship the decedent had with an individual.

Published on: March 29, 2014

Petitioner Requests Letters Testamentary

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said this probate proceeding, two of the three preliminary executors move for an order disqualifying their former attorneys from representing the objectants; the motion is opposed.

A New York Will Lawyer said that the decedent died in November 2010, survived by a spouse and two adult children. The decedent executed a will in 1990, a first codicil in 2003, and a second codicil in 2010. In the first codicil, the decedent appointed his son, his attorney, and his accountant, as co-executors and co-trustees. Objections have been filed by decedent’s children only as to the second codicil, the only dispositive provision of which leaves the decedent’s residence in Sands Point, New York to the decedent’s spouse; the will had merely provided her with the right to occupy the decedent’s residence for up to eighteen months after the decedent’s death.

Nassau County Probate Lawyers said the lawyer and the accountant filed a petition for the probate of all three instruments and for the issuance of letters testamentary and preliminary letters testamentary to the two of them, to the exclusion of the son. As indicated above, the son and his sister objected to the probate of the second codicil, and also to the prayer for the issuance of preliminary letters solely to the lawyer and accountant. The dispute regarding the preliminary letters was resolved and preliminary letters testamentary issued to all three nominated executors in February 2011.

Published on: March 27, 2014

Court Rules in Will Dispute

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said in this probate proceeding, petitioner, by motion, seeks an order vacating a stipulation of settlement and a renunciation and disclaimer purportedly executed to effectuate the settlement.

A Nassau County Probate attorney said that decedent was survived by his spouse (petitioner) and two children of a prior marriage (respondents).

A New York Will Lawyer said the petitioner filed a petition for probate of an instrument and preliminary letters issued to her. Decedent’s son appeared by counsel in the probate proceeding and settlement negotiations ensued. The negotiations resulted in a stipulation of settlement which was “so ordered”. The settlement provided that the assets be divided into three equal parts: 1/3 to the spouse, 1/3 to the respondent, respectively, in trust.

Published on: March 22, 2014

Court Analyzes Will Due to Allegations of Undue Influence

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said that the complainant moves to dismiss the objections filed contending that they are not legally cognizable. A deceased woman’s last will and testament nominated the accountant, her brother, as administrator of her estate and made him the beneficiary of the residuary that comprised 49% of the estate. The deceased’s son, who received a 35% share of the estate in trust, contested the will which was denied after the jury found the proponent had exercised undue influence. Preliminary letters then issued to the complainant were subsequently revoked.

A New York Will Lawyer said sources revealed that the first objection interposed to the account must be dismissed as legally insufficient. Further, no statute compels a fiduciary, prior to judicial settlement of his account, to make application to charge the estate with counsel fees acquired in offering the will for probate with the exception of an attorney-fiduciary who does not have at least one co-fiduciary who is not rendering legal services. Furthermore, an affidavit of services having been filed, the opponent’s claim that no documentation of the services rendered was presented lacks merit.

Queens Probate Attorneys said the center of the controversy revolves about the second objection which asserts the preliminary administrator has no right to recover commissions, or to charge the estate with counsel fees he incurred as the unsuccessful proponent.

Published on: March 21, 2014

Petitioner Alleges Undue Influence Regarding Will Execution

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said that, in this contested probate proceeding, the proponent, the daughter of the decedent, moves for an order pursuant to CPLR 3212 granting summary judgment dismissing the objections and admitting the propounded instrument dated June 25, 2007 to probate. The objectant, who is the son of the decedent, cross-moves for summary judgment denying probate to the propounded will dated June 25, 2007.

A New York Will Lawyer said the decedent, died on August 2, 2008, survived by four children. The decedent’s wife, predeceased the decedent, as did his daughter. The will offered for probate provides a $25,000.00 bequest to his son; the remaining amount of a private mortgage held by decedent for property located at 225 Hillside Avenue, Douglaston, New York is to be divided evenly among his daughters and the residuary is to be divided evenly among them. The will nominates the proponent as executor.

A Westchester County Probate Lawyers said that, the objectant has interposed the following objections to the propounded instrument: “1. the instrument propounded is not the last will and testament of the decedent. 2. The instrument is not the last will and testament of the decedent in that the signature affixed thereto, alleged to be the signature of decedent, is not, in fact, decedent’s signature. 3. The instrument offered for probate was not duly executed by the decedent in that he did not affix his signature at the end thereof, nor was such signature made by the decedent in the presence of each of the attesting witnesses, or acknowledged by him to have been made, to each of the attesting witnesses, nor did the decedent declare the instrument to be his last will, nor did at least two attesting witnesses each sign their names to said instrument as a witness at the end thereof at the request of the decedent and in his presence. 4. The instrument offered for probate was not duly executed by the decedent in that he did not publish the same as her will in the presence of the witnesses whose names are subscribed thereto and that the said alleged witnesses did not sign as witnesses in his presence or in the presence of each other. 5. The instrument offered for probate was not freely and voluntarily made by the decedent. Upon information and belief, the instrument, and the signature thereto, was obtained and procured by fraud, duress and/or undue influence practiced upon the decedent by the proponent or by other persons acting in concert or privity with her whose names are presently unknown to respondent. 6. That on the 25th day of June, 2007, the said decedent, was not of sound mind or memory and was not mentally capable of making a will. 7. Said instrument purported to be the last will and testament of the decedent, was revoked, because decedent executed a second original will on the same day he executed the instrument being offered in this probate proceeding, and only said instrument has been produced and offered for probate.”

Published on: March 4, 2014

Court Discusses Case Involving In Terrorem Clause

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said a petition for the probate of an instrument dated 11 March 2008 was filed by the nominated executor before the court along with the recovery of property alleged to be an asset of the estate pursuant to SCPA 2103.

A New York Will Lawyer said the parties are: petitioner, the nominated executor; and, respondents, the children of decedent and children of a predeceased son.

The respondents seek: a stay of the probate proceeding pending conclusion of the SCPA 2103 proceeding; a stay of the probate proceeding pending a construction of the in terrorem clause in the instrument offered for probate; an order granting petitioner the right to depose the nominated successor executor prior to filing objections; and, an order granting petitioner the right to depose the nominated successor executor and attorney-draftsman of a prior instrument purporting to be the last will and testament of decedent, again, prior to the filing of objections.

Published on: February 26, 2014

The issue in this case is whether the United States estate tax should be allocated against legacies bequeathed in the Mexican will of the decedent.

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said that, the decedent was a citizen of the United States, domiciled in Mexico City, who possessed substantial assets in New York and in Mexico. On May 14, 1965 she executed a will in New York which disposed of all of her property ‘wheresoever’s situate’, directed that, regardless of her domicile at death, her will be offered for probate in New York County, that the administration of her estate be conducted subject to the jurisdiction of this court, and that her will and all dispositions therein be construed and regulated by the laws of the State of New York. The residuary estate administration was bequeathed in equal shares to two friends, one of whom resided in Brooklyn and the other in El Paso, Texas. The latter is the objectant here.

A New York Will Lawyer said that, on January 20, 1966–approximately eight months after the execution of her will in New York–the decedent executed a notarial will in Mexico City. An English translation of the Spanish text is incorporated in the probate decree of this court. The will contains several general legacies expressed in Mexican currency and ‘for the remainder of her estate (the testatrix) institutes as her sole heirs in equal one-third shares’ three individuals, all residents of Mexico City. This instrument made no mention of the New York will and no reference at all to estate taxes. It declares that ‘the testamentary provisions contained in this instrument shall apply only to the property or money which the testatrix has in the Mexican Republic’, and it appoints Mexican executors. A second notarial will was executed in Mexico on April 25, 1966. It is actually a codicil to the January will, revoking one general legacy and also the institution of one of the three as an heir, leaving the other two persons ‘as the sole heiresses in equal parts.’ This instrument also is silent with respect to estate taxes and their impact.

A Westchester County Probate Lawyer said that, the decedent died in Mexico on April 22, 1967. Her New York will and the two notarial instruments were offered for probate in this court. Preliminary letters testamentary were issued to the executor named in the New York will on June 2, 1967. By decree dated June 5, 1968 this court found that the will dated May 14, 1965 had been duly executed, that the instruments in the Spanish language dated January 20, 1966 and April 25, 1966 had been duly established as testamentary instruments in accordance with the laws of Mexico, and that the English translations offered for probate were true translations of the Spanish original. A New York Probate Lawyer said that, it decreed that the three paper writings be admitted to probate ‘as together constituting the last will and testament of the said Bessie Owen, deceased. Letters testamentary were directed to issue to Bankers Trust Company, the executor named in the New York will, ‘provided that such letters testamentary, and the authority, responsibility and accountability of Bankers Trust Company thereunder, shall not extend to property, money or matters administered in Mexico but shall otherwise be unlimited.’ Such letters were issued on June 7, 1968.

Published on: February 25, 2014

Court Decides Case Regarding Rhode Island’s Non-claim Statute

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Probate Lawyer said that, plaintiff was a patient of the decedent doctor, a general dentist. He died on September 12, 2005. Although he lived in New York at the time of his death, a probate estate was commenced in Rhode Island where he possessed property and where, over a decade earlier, he had executed his will. On December 8, 2005, the decedent’s brother (who happens to be an attorney), was appointed as Executor of the Estate of the decedent (“the Executor”) In late December 2005, he sent plaintiff care of her attorney, a “Notice of Commencement of Probate,” which set forth information regarding the decedent’s Rhode Island probate estate.

A New York Will Lawyer said that, plaintiff commenced this dental-malpractice action against the Executor in June 2006. In her Verified Complaint, she alleges that the decedent committed malpractice while rendering dental treatment between September 11, 2004, and February 15, 2005. The Executor’s Verified Answer (dated August 24, 2006), includes the affirmative defenses of failure to “timely file a claim against decedent’s estate” pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws §§ 33-11-4, 5, 9 and “insufficient service of process.”

A Nassau County Probate Lawyer said that, pursuant to CPLR 3211, defendant Executor of the Estate of the decedent moves to dismiss this dental malpractice action commenced by plaintiff, arguing that plaintiff failed to comply with Rhode Island’s non-claim statute and failed to properly serve him. Plaintiff opposes the motion and, as a precautionary matter, cross-moves for an extension of time to properly serve the Summons and Verified Complaint.

Published on: February 24, 2014

Court Decides Validity of German Will

by Stephen Bilkis

In this proceeding the petitioner requests probate of a will executed in 1955 while the decedent was domiciled in New York County. A New York Probate Lawyer said that the petitioner is an appointed executor of a will which bequeaths the residuary estate to a New York charity. Decedent journeyed to Bavaria, West Germany in 1965 and executed a holographic will while still there in 1967; that will provides that it revokes all prior wills. She died, still in Germany, having neither home nor presence in New York from after departure in 1965 until her death in 1968.

A New York Will Lawyer said that Respondent cross-petitioner is the sole legatee under the later will, which was established in court proceedings in West Germany in 1972. Respondent cross-petitioner moved for summary judgment dismissing the petition and denying probate to the prior 1955 will. Respondent further petitions for ancillary letters c.t.a. on the basis of the 1967 will.

A Staten Island Probate Lawyer said that the court finds that judicial decrees, not administrative certificates, were rendered by courts of record in Germany in the establishment of the 1967 holographic will of the decedent. Furthermore, the ‘Certificate of Inheritance’ issued by the District Court in Germany constitutes a final decree and not merely an interlocutory determination. In addition a finding of German domicile was essential to the establishment of the 1967 will in Germany. On the basis of the recognized rules of comity, this court gives full recognition to the establishment of the 1967 will of the decedent in the German courts.