In re the Estate of Eisenberg

177 Misc. 655, 31 N.Y.S.2d 380, 1941 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2393
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedNovember 3, 1941
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 177 Misc. 655 (In re the Estate of Eisenberg) 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 the Estate of Eisenberg, 177 Misc. 655, 31 N.Y.S.2d 380, 1941 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2393 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1941).

Opinion

Foley, S.

In this proceeding the will of Jacob M. Eisenberg, the testator, was offered for probate by two of the three persons named as executors in it. The proponents alleged that the testator was, at the time of his death, a resident of the county of New York.

The question presented for determination is the domicile of the decedent and whether it is in the county of New York or in the State of Florida. It is raised by the answer of Annie Eisenberg, the widow, who asserts in it that her husband was domiciled at his death in Dade county, Fla. She further contends in her answer that the will of the testator has been admitted to probate in that State, She moves for the dismissal of the pending proceeding for original probate in our jurisdiction and asks that ancillary letters of administration with the will annexed be granted to her or her designee.

If the testator died a resident of New York State, the admission of the will in Florida and the determination of its court cannot defeat the jurisdiction of the Surrogate’s Court to admit the -will here in an original probate proceeding. (Matter of McCullough, 129 Misc. 113; Matter of Rubens, 195 N. Y. 527, affg. 128 App. Div. 626; Matter of Hart, 160 Misc. 198; affd., 250 App. Div. 753; Matter of James, 167 Misc. 142; affd., 254 App. Div. 723.)

[657]*657In proceedings in estates and in related actions, the determination of domicile is presented in varying forms. In certain of them conflict arises between the claims of two States, or sometimes two or more States, over the right to levy an inheritance, succession or estate tax upon the basis of residence of the decedent. (Texas v. Florida, 306 U. S. 398; Matter of Trowbridge, 266 N. Y. 283; Dorrance’s Estate, 309 Penn. St. 151; 163 A. 303; Dorrance v. Thayer-Martin, 116 N. J. Law, 362; 184 A. 743.) In other phases of the litigation of domicile the dispute arises over diverse property rights between the beneficiaries of the will, or between the legatees and the surviving spouse, as here, or between charities or other persons interested, because of the distinctive and different law of one or other of the States of which the decedent may have died a resident. In these situations, as in the present proceeding, the taxing authorities of the States may not have participated in the litigation. A trust created by the will may be valid in one State and invalid in the other. Charitable gifts may be legal in one jurisdiction and void in the other. The rights of the surviving spouse to elect to take against the will may be greater or less or even non-existent as between the two States.

In the pending proceeding it is undisputed that the controversy has arisen because of the greatly increased rights of the widow under the law of Florida as against the rights granted to her under the law of New York. Under the statute of the former State, Mrs. Eisenberg, the widow, has an absolute right, despite the terms of the will, to take one-third of the personal property of the testator. (Laws of Florida, 1939, chap. 18,999, § 35.) The decedent left no children or descendants. As contrasted with the law of Florida, if Mr. Eisenberg died a resident of the State of New York, the will apparently makes sufficient and ample provision for his widow and she is without any right to take against its terms under the provisions of section 18 of our Decedent Estate Law. The widow thus seeks a determination of domicile in Florida in order to escape her husband’s testamentary wish that she be limited to the income of a trust, and in place of it to obtain an outright third of the estate. The legatees resist because the benefits given to them under the will are bound to be substantially reduced by a finding that Florida and not New York was the State of legal residence at death.

Mr. Eisenberg left a gross estate of approximately $1,000,000. In his will he made an outright cash bequest to his widow far in excess of that which section 18 required him to bequeath to her. He created trusts with directions to pay her a substantial income. He made provisions for his blood relations with ultimate outright [658]*658gifts to certain of them. He gave legacies to numerous charities. The line of division has thus been drawn between the widow, who under her rights granted to her by the laws of Florida, would take an outright share of the estate approximating $300,000, and the legatees, who under the laws of New York would take the shares given them by the will immune from any attack or diminishment by the widow.

Extensive testimony has been submitted by the contending parties. It consists of the customary evidence in domicile cases bearing upon the life history of the testator, his mode of living in New York, Florida and elsewhere, and his declarations, written and oral, as to his places of residence.

Upon this evidence the surrogate finds that Mr. Eisenberg died a resident of and domiciled in the county and State of New York.

His life history may be divided into four separate periods.

The first period extends from his birth in Russia in 1876 until his arrival in New York county as an immigrant in 1892.

The second period covers a clearly established legal residence in his domicile of choice in New York State of forty-five years from 1892 to 1937. During at least thirty-seven years of this period he was unquestionably domiciled in the county of New York. He married his wife, the respondent here, in New York county in 1902. He established and prospered in a clothing business located in this community. Except for an interruption of two years, in which he lived in Far Rockaway in Queens county, he continued to maintain his home and legal residence at various places in New York county until the month of May, 1931.

In 1929 he had become ill as the result of a serious heart and arterial condition. In the month of May, 1931, he leased and occupied a cottage at Long Beach in Nassau county of this State. During the subsequent years, and including 1937, he resided in the summer months there. During the period from 1930 to 1937 he stayed during the winter months at Miami Beach, Fla. He purchased a parcel of real estate there in 1933 and built a house upon it for occupancy by himself and his wife. He first lived in it in October, 1933. It is claimed by the widow that the testator then changed his domicile from New York to Florida. On the other hand, the surrogate finds that no such change was effectuated at that time or for many years afterward. Upon his own formal declarations and his repeated return to Long Beach in this State for each summer, he continued a legal resident here until late in the year 1937. His sojourns in Florida during these years were motivated by reasons of health and by his physician’s advice to avoid the cold winter climate in the north. They were plainly [659]*659temporary in character. (Texas v. Florida, supra; Matter of Marks, 176 Misc. 330.)

The surrogate finds upon the evidence that he was domiciled at Long Beach In this State from 1931 until the latter part of October, 1937 About the year 1934 Mr. Eisenberg developed a scheme to transfer his residence from New York State in order to escape the imposition of income taxes as a resident of our State. He continued to pay his taxes as a resident of this State to and including the year 1934.

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Bluebook (online)
177 Misc. 655, 31 N.Y.S.2d 380, 1941 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-eisenberg-nysurct-1941.