New York Probate and Estate Administration Lawyer Blog
This case is being heard in the Surrogates Court of Suffolk County. The matter at hand involves the issue of proving the last will and testament of the deceased, Sigrid C. Lockwood as a will of real property and personal property. The case also deals with a petition regarding the ancillary letters testamentary for the same estate.
The question is this case is in regard to the wills left by the decedent, Sigrid C. Lockwood. At the time of her death she was living in Norway. This is where she was cremated. She was a United States citizen at the time. She executed a will in December of 1951 which has been offered for probate to this court. She also executed another will in Norway in April of 1953. This will has been probated in Norway. The executor named in the will is requesting letters ancillary from the court.
Case Background
The decedent frequently visited the country of Norway. A New York Probate Lawyer said she stated that she had funds in the country that could only be spent there. She visited her sister Anna Skau, who lived in Norway as well as friends that resided there.
She had stated that she would never settle down outside of the United States of America and would never give up her citizenship from the United States. On the 7th of January in 1953, Sartain dropped the decedent off at the airport and she informed him that she would return to the United States in May of the same year.
There is no evidence to support that the decedent had planned on taking up domicile in Norway except for the fact that before the visit ended she had purchased the rights of cremation from a cremation society located in Oslo. Queens Probate Lawyers said she passed away in Oslo on the 11th of May, 1953 and her ashes remain there. Her husband was buried on Long Island in 1950.
The sister of the decedent had passed away in April, 1953 and the will that was probated in Norway was made two days after her sister died. The decedent passed away just a month later while in Oslo, never returning to the United States. Before leaving on the last trip to Norway the decedent had executed in Norway the paper that has been given to this court. The decedent’s estate consists of considerable assets in both Norway and Suffolk County, New York.
The will that was made in Norway has been admitted to probate by the courts of the country. The executor of the will is a Norwegian lawyer, Wihl Beck. He represents all of the heirs in Norway. The executor of the will from the United States is William B. Platt, Jr. Esquire. He has petitioned an objection to the Norwegian will.
Court Discussion and Decision
The decedent had made clear that her roots were in the United States and that she would not revoke her citizenship to the United States. However, a Staten Island Probate Lawyer said she executed a will while in Norway and there is no evidence to show that this will was not legally executed. For this reason the court dismisses the answer from the probate proceeding without prejudice. The Norwegian government has been given jurisdiction in this case.
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