New York Probate and Estate Administration Lawyer Blog

Published on: September 2, 2019

New York Appellate Court Declares Prior Will Revoked After Motions for Summary Judgement

by Stephen Bilkis

Matter of H.

The purpose of this case is to probate a will dated 3/27/97, which is allegedly the last will and testament of the decedent. The petitioners here the fiduciaries CH & MH. CH is the nephew of the decedent and MH is the decedent’s sister. The decedent has several distributes including his surviving spouse and children.

The document states that the decedent’s personal property and real estate should be divided equally between the nephews, sister and his 3 children. The surviving spouse is left the remainder of the estate. The document specifically disinherits any children born after execution of the document or any adopted children. Objections to the document were filed by his surviving spouse and children.

Published on: March 31, 2019

Court Decides Case Involving Promissory Estoppel

by Stephen Bilkis

NY Slip Op 05266

The petitioner brought this case to enforce an oral agreement that would be void because of the statute of frauds. The petitioner’s grounds for this action are unconscionability of the statute of frauds. The court agrees that when promissory estoppel is satisfied it would be unconscionable and egregious to rely on the statute of frauds. Nonetheless, the court concludes that the petitioner can’t rely on this doctrine because the application of the statute of frauds would inflict injury on the petitioner and would be unfair. The court felt that while it would be unfair, it was not unconscionable.

The decedent owned an apartment building. His grandsons contend that before 2006, the had helped their grandfather with maintenance and snow removal on the property. Later, the grandfather asked the petitioners about taking over management duties of the property.

Published on: November 28, 2018

Petitioner Seeks Guardianship of Disabled Sister

by Stephen Bilkis

Matter of A.F.

2018 NY Slip Op 05590

This is an appeal from a guardianship proceeding pursuant to Surrogate Court Procedure Act art. 17-A. The order denied the petition and the case was dismissed.

Published on: November 4, 2018

Surrogate Court Decides Will Construction Case

by Stephen Bilkis

BD is the brother of the decedent AR and the co-executor of his estate. He seeks a judicial construction of his brother’s will. He was left a 13-year-old cat and $6,000 for the care of the cat. If he is successful in this case, he would stand to receive $700,000.

AR stated in his will, he stated he loved siblings dearly but he made no bequest to them. He stated that the rest of the estate should be put in the Dawe family trust. The purpose of the will and trust was to fund a genealogical website.

To avoid the rule of perpetuities, after that, the money should go to a library in Connecticut.

Published on: September 13, 2018

Court Discusses Jurisdiction of Distributees and the Doctrine of Laches in Probate Matter

by Stephen Bilkis

This is an appeal from an Order dated 1/11/16. The order vacated the determination of an order dated 2015, denying a motion by CB and ME for a summary judgment dismissing BSB’s objection to probate. The Order is affirmed.

The case involves the will of FS. The will was signed in 1976, and the decedent passed away in 1980. This proceeding was filed in 1980. BSB was the daughter of the decedent and signed a consent to probate on 10/8/80. The will was admitted to probate 11/13/80.

One of the defendant’s grandchildren moved to vacate the probate because several distributes weren’t named in the probate petition.

Published on: August 25, 2018

Appellant’s Claim Barred Due to Res Judicata, Collateral Estoppel

by Stephen Bilkis

Matter of A.

NY Slip Op 05842

The co-executor of the estate petitioned the court pursuant to 2103 to determine if certain funds were withheld from the estate of A. This appeal is from 2 Surrogate Court orders brought by A.S. Those orders denied AS her cross-motion pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(5) to dismiss the petition regarding two bank accounts. This appeal is dismissed. The second order superseded the first. One bill of costs is awarded to petitioner, payable to A.S.

Published on: June 8, 2018

Petitioner Moves for Summary Judgment in Will Construction Case

by Stephen Bilkis

In re the Probate Matter of WB

BB was the decent in this matter and died at 95 years old with 2 daughters (TK and MA), which were the two distributes of her estate.

SV, a niece in law, submitted an instrument dated August 16, 2007, as BB’s last will and testament. The will stated that everything be divided between the petitioner and her husband, EV, a nephew in law. The decedent expressly left her two children out of the will. Understandably, both children filed objections to the validity of the document. They contend that the document wasn’t properly executed, it was a mistake and produced under fraud and duress. Petitioner moved for summary judgment. There was a cross-motion filed compelling discovery and arguing that triable issues of fact exist.

Published on: May 12, 2018

Court Rejects Extrinsic Evidence in Will Construction Case

by Stephen Bilkis

Matter of B.

2018 NY Slip Op 03921

May 31, 2018

Published on: May 6, 2018

The Estate of CF v The City of New York

by Stephen Bilkis

The respondent MJP holdings moves for an order dismissing the petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and because a prior action is pending for the same issue in a different court.

Despite the fact that the proceeding was heard on 6/1/18, the history of this case goes back 40 years, starting with the death of the decedent’s grandmother CP. That litigation was only settled in 2017. Her 2 children have passed away. The estate of one child, J, is in litigation. The case with the other child, M, is being litigated as well.

The parties involved here are the petitioner, who is the executor of the decedent’s estate, the grandchild of the decedent, and daughter’s husband, and MJD Holdings.

Published on: May 2, 2018

Will Contest Ends in Summary Judgment

by Stephen Bilkis

Matter of S.

2017 NY Slip Op. 07446

October 25, 2017