probate contest

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SCPA § 1404 requires that “at least two attesting witnesses must be produced before the court and examined before a written will is admitted to probate.” Very often, litigators think of examinations pursuant to SCPA § 1404 as examinations before trial that are conducted under Article 31 of the CPLR. But they are not. Hillary Frommer discusses this topic in our latest post.
Continue Reading A Reminder that Pre-Objection SCPA § 1404 Exams are Not Simply Article 31 “Depositions”

While most decisions rendered by the Surrogate’s Court result from an affirmative request for relief, occasionally the court will address an issue on its own motion when justice or the exercise of its inherent or statutory power requires. In our latest post, Ilene Cooper examines two recent opinions wherein the Surrogate’s Court again acted on its own initiative to achieve what it considered the proper result.
Continue Reading On Its Own Motion

Estate litigators arguably see more probate contests than any other type of conflict. While the details are always unique, they almost always include allegations that someone unduly influenced the decedent to change his or her will to either disinherit, or favor, a particular person. These cases also often include an allegation — which is usually contested — that the purported influencer was in a “confidential relationship” with the decedent. The frequency of such claims beg the questions (1) what exactly is a “confidential relationship,” and (2) what is the practical benefit to an objectant in establishing that one existed? Jaclene D’Agostino addresses these questions in our latest entry.
Continue Reading What is a Confidential Relationship and How Does it Affect a Probate Contest?

Many estate practitioners are familiar with contested matters in which a charity interested in the proceeding is cited, as is the Attorney General, and both the Attorney General and private counsel for the charity appear in the proceeding. In such cases, both the Attorney General and the charity’s counsel represent the charity. What happens, however, when the status and identity of the charitable beneficiary is less than certain? That was precisely the situation facing the New York County Surrogate’s Court in the probate contest involving the much-publicized estate of Huguette Clark. John Morken discusses this portion of the Clark case in our latest entry.
Continue Reading Representation of Charities by the Attorney General

Having been adjudicated in both the criminal and civil forums, Castor v. Pulaski addressed the disturbing scenario of a wife murdering her husband, and thereafter forging his will so as to obtain all of his property. John Morken dicusses the civil case in this week’s entry.
Continue Reading Court Awards Compensatory and Punitive Damages, and Attorney Fees, for Fraud in Probating Will

One of the most common objections in probate contests is the allegation that the propounded instrument was a product of undue influence. In our latest entry, Ilene Cooper reflects upon two decisions from 2011 in which the Surrogate’s Courts of New York and Kings Counties addressed such claims, which arose from contrasting fact patterns.
Continue Reading Issues of Undue Influence

In Matter of Smith, the nominated executor of an estate sought to dispense with the testimony of one of the attesting witnesses at the SCPA 1404 stage of a probate proceeding. The court denied the motion, explaining that the statutory requirements had not been satisfied. Jaclene D’Agostino discusses the decision in our latest blog entry.
Continue Reading Motion to Dispense with Testimony of Uncooperative Attesting Witness Denied