In re Nhan Thi Thanh Le

168 Misc. 2d 384, 637 N.Y.S.2d 614, 1995 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 648
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedDecember 11, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 168 Misc. 2d 384 (In re Nhan Thi Thanh Le) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Surrogate's Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Nhan Thi Thanh Le, 168 Misc. 2d 384, 637 N.Y.S.2d 614, 1995 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 648 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Edwin Kassoff, J.

This is a proceeding pursuant to article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law, seeking an appointment of a guardian for the property management of the alleged incapacitated person, Daniel King Le, also known as Daniel King Whildon. The petitioners are the adoptive sister and the attorney of the alleged incapacitated person.

Daniel King Le was born May 2, 1985 in New York. On August 14, 1985, Daniel and his one-year-old sister were removed from their parents’ home and placed in foster care with the Brooklyn Home for Children. Subsequently, in May 1987, Daniel and his sister were placed with their grandparents, Vincent Le and Sang Tran Le, by the New York City Department of Social Services, in their apartment in Astoria, Queens. The Les adopted the two children on October 31, 1989. They currently reside in San Jose, California.

On November 22, 1987, Daniel suffered severe injuries after falling four stories from a window in his Queens apartment. As a result of his injuries, Daniel underwent brain surgery on April 20, 1989 and an operation to repair a perforated ear drum on July 2, 1991. Despite the seriousness of Daniel’s injuries, he made a remarkable recovery and is no longer under [386]*386the regular care of any doctors. Daniel is a fun-loving active youngster who participates in all types of activities. However, Daniel has some difficulty with his schoolwork and is functioning at least one grade below his normal grade level. It is unclear at this time how far he will advance at school.

Daniel’s adoptive father, Vincent Le, subsequently commenced an action in Supreme Court, Queens County, against Michael Pistilli and Pistilli Realty Company, the owners and landlords of the apartment building where Daniel lived at the time of the accident. Prior to trial, a structured settlement was agreed to by all parties, which will pay a total guaranteed sum of $5,326,347 over Daniel’s lifetime. Justice Price, the Justice presiding over Daniel’s personal injury action, directed that appropriate guardianship proceedings be commenced to ratify the proposed settlement agreement. Thereafter, Daniel’s adoptive sister Nhan Thi Thanh (Kate) Le and his attorney, Stanley Young, commenced this proceeding to be appointed as Daniel’s property management coguardians. Pursuant to article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law, a hearing was held before Justice Kassoff to determine whether petitioners should be appointed as Daniel’s property management coguardians.

Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law allows a guardian to be appointed for one’s personal needs, property management or both (Mental Hygiene Law § 81.02 [a]). The statute attempts to create a guardianship system that is tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual by taking into account the personal wishes, preferences, and desires of the alleged incapacitated person (Mental Hygiene Law § 81.01). Article 81 is thus based on the concept that the "needs of persons with incapacities are as diverse and complex as they are unique to the individual” (Mental Hygiene Law § 81.01). As a result, the guardian is given only those powers which he needs and no more. In this way, article 81 seeks to foster the least restrictive form of intervention consistent with an individual’s self-determination (Mental Hygiene Law § 81.02 [a] [2]).

Article 81 provides a two-prong test for determining whether a guardian should be appointed for an individual. Under section 81.02 (a) of the Mental Hygiene Law, the court can appoint a guardian for a person if it first determines that the appointment is necessary to provide for the personal needs or property management of the person. In reaching its determination for this first prong, the court considers all the evidence including, but not limited to, the report of the court evaluator and "the sufficiency and reliability of all available resources” [387]*387(Mental Hygiene Law § 81.02 [a] [2]). To satisfy the second prong, the individual must agree to the appointment or must be incapacitated (Mental Hygiene Law § 81.02 [a] [2]). Under Mental Hygiene Law § 81.02 (b), a determination of incapacity must be based on clear and convincing evidence that the person is likely to suffer harm because he is unable to provide for his personal needs and/or property management, and he cannot adequately understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of his inability. Article 81 further requires the court to give "primary consideration” to one’s functional level and functional limitations in making a determination of incapacity (Mental Hygiene Law § 81.02 [c]). This functional evaluation considers how an individual manages his activities of daily living, such as eating, shopping, dressing, housekeeping, and money management (Mental Hygiene Law § 81.03 [h]).

The court first finds that it has jurisdiction over the proceedings in the instant case. Mental Hygiene Law § 81.04 (a) (2) provides that the Supreme Court and the County Courts outside of New York City have the power to appoint a guardian "for a nonresident present in the state”. The statute does not define the term "present” and as article 81 only became effective April 1, 1993, there are no cases interpreting this section. The only helpful comments come from the Law Revision Commission, which indicate that the court can appoint a guardian for one physically present in the State, even though that person may not reside or be domiciled in the State. (Law Rev Commn Comments to section 81.04, reprinted in McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 34A, Mental Hygiene Law § 81.04, 1995 Pocket Part, at 305.) Thus, it is necessary to see how courts have interpreted presence in other contexts.

The concept of physical presence as a basis for jurisdiction is firmly entrenched in American jurisprudence. Presence, or transient jurisdiction, can be traced back to the seminal case of Pennoyer v Neff (95 US 714). In Pennoyer, the Supreme Court recognized that jurisdiction could be acquired over a nonresident defendant who is served with process while present in the forum State (Pennoyer v Neff, supra, 95 US, at 735). Pennoyer came to be seen as establishing the "power” theory of jurisdiction. Under this theory, States are sovereign and can exercise complete power over persons and property in their territorial boundaries (Note, Transient Jurisdiction is Here to Stay: Burn-ham v Superior Court of California, 23 Conn L Rev 1125, 1132 [1991]).

The Supreme Court reaffirmed the notion that the mere presence of a defendant in the forum State is a sufficient basis for [388]*388jurisdiction in the landmark case of International Shoe Co. v Washington (326 US 310). The Court in International Shoe declared that a nonresident defendant who is not present in the forum State must have certain minimum contacts with the forum before jurisdiction can be acquired over him (International Shoe Co. v Washington, supra, 326 US, at 316). International Shoe was never intended to limit the jurisdiction of State courts over persons found within the borders of the forum State. Rather, the minimum contacts analysis evolved to extend the personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendants (Cariaga v Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct., 104 Nev 544, 546, 762 P2d 886, 887; Oxmans’ Erwin Meat Co. v Blacketer, 86 Wis 2d 683, 687, 273 NW2d 285, 287). In 1990, the Supreme Court again upheld the principle of transient jurisdiction in Burnham v Superior Ct. of Cal., Marin County (495 US 604). In Burnham,

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168 Misc. 2d 384, 637 N.Y.S.2d 614, 1995 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-nhan-thi-thanh-le-nysurct-1995.