As the year draws to a close, I sometimes recall the stresses of final exam season from my law school days. In the spirit of reminiscence, I’ll pose a quick final-exam-like fact pattern:
Jane owned a parcel of real property in New Hyde Park, title to which she transferred in June 2002 to her irrevocable
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This month’s blog post will address a recent decision by the Appellate Division, First Department, entered in In re Perelman, that helps reiterate and define the parameters of discovery proceedings. The case is interesting not only for its facts and the issues they presented, but for its litigants: Ronald Perelman, of Revlon and corporate raider…
A recent decision of the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court addressed a frequently litigated issue in Surrogate’s Court litigation – – whether the proposed or nominated fiduciary should be disqualified from serving in a fiduciary capacity on the grounds of “dishonesty” or “improvidence.” In the Estate of George Mathai a familiar dynamic was in play –…
In Matter of Conklin, 2015 NY Slip Op 25094 (Sur Ct, Nassau County 2015), the Nassau County Surrogate’s Court addressed, among other things, whether specifically bequeathed property sold by an attorney-in-fact prior to the decedent’s death, adeemed. The decedent’s will had specifically devised the subject property to his two children and first wife, with a direction that it be sold after his death and the proceeds divided among the three of them. But a sale prior to death meant that the proceeds would become part of the decedent’s residuary estate, of which one of his attorneys-in-fact was the sole beneficiary. Jaclene D’Agostino discusses the case in our latest entry.
Continue Reading Ademption Results from Attorney-in-Fact’s Sale of Specifically Bequeathed Asset
In Levien v Johnson, the New York County Surrogate’s Court recently enjoined the trustees of a testamentary trust from proceeding in Texas to challenge the adoptions of two adults, Parvin Johnson, Jr. and Kenneth Ives, by the grandsons of the Decedent, Arnold Levien. As the great-grandsons of the Decedent, Messrs. Johnson and Ives would be members of the class of remainder beneficiaries of the trust entitled to distributions. Hillary Frommer discusses the decision in our latest post.
Continue Reading Court Enjoins Trustees from Going to Texas for a “Second Bite at the Apple” to Stop Beneficiaries from Inheriting
On October 28, 2014, the Court of Appeals rendered its long awaited decision in In re Lawrence, reversing the decision by the Appellate Division in which it was held that (1) a revised retainer agreement, under which the law firm received 40% of the net recovery (i.e. $44 million) was procedurally and substantively unconscionable and that fees should be determined under the original retainer; and (2) the claim to recover gifts made by the client to her attorneys was timely. Hillary Frommer discusses the decision in our latest entry.
Continue Reading In re Lawrence: What the Court of Appeals Says About Gifts from Client to Lawyer
