This is a decision of the Supreme Court deciding jointly five cases where despite the existence of will that can be admitted into probate, the parties who could be beneficiaries under these wills decided to ask instead for letters of administration. The surrogate courts, in its discretion, thinking it wiser…
A man had a son and two daughters. In 1995, the father and the son had a falling out. In December 1996, the father made a will leaving all of his real and personal properties to his two daughters in equal shares. The son was left out of the will…
A wealthy lady executed a will on February 10, 1992. In this will, she named her husband, a lawyer, to be the executor and principal beneficiary. Her husband was the same lawyer who drafted the will and the attesting witnesses to the will were a couple who were their neighbors…
A notary public whose duty is to administer oaths regarding the execution of public documents took a piece of ordinary notebook paper and folded it so that it made four pages. On this sheet of folded notebook paper, the notary public wrote in his own handwriting his last will and…
The Surrogate’s Court of New York admitted a will into probate and issued letters testamentary and letters of trusteeship. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the admission of the will into probate and revoked the letters testamentary and letter of trusteeship. The testator was a resident of the state of…
This is a will contest involving several properties. One of the parties is Mrs. A, the wife of the decedent, the others are the two named preliminary executors identified in the will, the guardian ad litem of the minor child of the decedent, and lastly Mrs. B, the other wife…
A man and wife were married and had three sons. One of the sons had a disability that required lifetime care. The couple divorced in 1985 and the man was ordered to pay support of $100 weekly. The man failed to pay support and the woman obtained a judgment for…
An old bachelor in New York died. In his will, he named eleven cousins of his as his distributees. As he had no children of his own, he bequeathed his entire estate to his tax lawyer. The tax lawyer was a resident of New York but he had relocated to…
A 91 year old man died in a nursing home in Westchester County on December 10, 2003. He was survived by his three children: a daughter and two sons. His will provided that his real property in Suffolk County be devised to his daughter; he bequeathed the amount of $50,000…
This is a will contest involving not relatives but unrelated parties. The case stemmed from the will submitted for probate. The will that was executed by the decedent gave a very substantial amount to an alleged very close friend. Prior to this, several wills were also executed by the decedent…