In re the Estate of Mester

69 Misc. 2d 570, 330 N.Y.S.2d 737, 1972 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2004
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedApril 12, 1972
StatusPublished

This text of 69 Misc. 2d 570 (In re the Estate of Mester) 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 Mester, 69 Misc. 2d 570, 330 N.Y.S.2d 737, 1972 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2004 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1972).

Opinion

John D. Bennett, S.

This proceeding was brought by the mother of an infant for an order directing the trustees of this estate to make payment directly to her of moneys to become shortly due and payable to her former husband, the father of the child. The matter has been submitted for decision on the question of jurisdiction based upon the petition, answer, affidavit and two memoranda of law.

While the caption of the proceeding refers to a direction to make payment of income payable to ” the ex-husband and father, the petition does not in any way distinguish between income and principal of the trust but asserts, and it is not denied, that the trust will terminate this month and payment of the corpus thereof will be payable to the respondent under the terms of his father’s will. Whether any accrued income is or will be on hand does not appear.

There is a serious question of jurisdiction involved, it being decided in Matter of Littauer (285 App. Div. 95) that a direct proceeding against the trustee does not lie (see, also, Matter of Goelet, 28 A D 2d 149). The petitioner cites Matter of Chusid (60 Misc 2d 462) in which Surrogate Sober held otherwise. Since the matter is submitted on the papers without a hearing and solely on the question of jurisdiction, the court will assume that every allegation made by the petitioner is true as contained in the petition, amended by her affidavit, as well as the matters of record in the Supreme Court of Nassau County as disclosed by the petition and answer.

[571]*571After carefully reviewing the law and the allegations made, the court is of the opinion that it does not have jurisdiction and, accordingly, the petition is hereby dismissed.

There are a number of differences between this case and the Chusid case (60 Misc 2d 462, supra):

(1) In Chusid the court was dealing with a “ discretionary trust ” (Chusid, p. 463), whereas the trust in this case is clearly a “ spendthrift ” trust. This is clear from article “Tenth” of the will: “No person receiving any benefit of any kind, whether in the form of income, principal payments or of any other kind, whether mentioned or not, shall have any right to assign, encumber, or anticipate by alienation or commutation any such benefit receivable hereunder, or his or her right or interest in any benefit receivable hereunder of any kind, and, except as otherwise provided by law, no such benefit receivable hereunder shall be subject to claims of creditors for such beneficiary, whether by attachment, execution, garnishee or any other legal process, whether mentioned or not, nor shall any such benefit be any part of the assets of any bankruptcy estate or assignment estate, whether voluntary or involuntary.”

(2) In Chusid (60 Misc 2d 462, supra) there was no divorce decree and the adult parties involved were husband and wife, although living apart. Sol Chusid had no assets and was unable to earn any living; the wife from time to time had been awarded small sums for support, but the wife and children had received no support whatsoever for two years and very little during the previous seven years (p. 463). In our case the petitioner wife is divorced from the father who is the beneficiary of the trust under his father’s will. In addition, by the decree of divorce made in 1961 the Supreme Court of Nassau County noted that the parties had settled their property rights and retained jurisdiction over the parties and their two children, only one of whom is mentioned in the papers here. The decree dissolved the marriage because of this petitioner’s fault and provided, inter alia, that plaintiff (petitioner herein) shall have the right to apply for appropriate relief at the foot of the said decree “in the event any change is made in the present situation of * * * Marcy Lou Mester ” (not mentioned in this proceeding), and ‘ ‘ in the event any extraordinary medical or dental expenses are required ” for Owen Mester (the infant who is mentioned in this proceeding). Moreover, the petitioner wife had applied at least twice to the Supreme Court subsequent to the 1961 decree, and the order dated March 9, 1970 by that court recited two application requests for modification of a previous order dated [572]*572in 1969. One of those requests dealt with reimbursement for psychological treatment for the child herein, Owen, and for a money judgment for arrears in child support payments, as well as orthodontal work. The petitioner now asks this court for the same or similar relief.

(3) In Chusid (60 Misc 2d 462, supra) the children involved were named income beneficiaries of the trust and entitled to share the income with their father, whereas neither the petitioner nor the child here is a beneficiary of the Mester trust, except that this child and his sister (mentioned above) would be considered as remotely contingent remaindermen, depending on the death of the father, respondent, who is alive and will be entitled to complete distribution on the termination of the trust in this month of April, 1972.

(4) In Chusid (60 Misc 2d 462, supra) the children involved were children dependent (pp. 465, 466, 467) for support on their father and the court there said: “ It is concluded that the children of Sol Chusid, solely by virtue of their status as dependent children, have standing in this proceeding under the statutes discussed [SCPA 209, subds. 3, 4, 9.] ” (Chusid, supra, at p. 469; emphasis supplied). Such is not the case here since Owen is alleged to be living with his mother and stepfather and the court records show that he has assets of his own of at least $11,145.39 (see the last certification supplied to this court on March 8, 1971 in the guardianship file).

(5) In Chusid (60 Misc 2d 462, supra) there was an accounting proceeding pending to which all of the persons involved there were already parties. This circumstance was emphasized by Surrogate Sobel (pp. 469, 470) as an expansion of this court’s jurisdiction “ so that litigants would not be compelled to resort to two forums for the determination of their claims ” (citing cases at p. 469 and SCPA 201, subd. 3 at p. 470). It would appear that the converse must be true in this case since the petitioner had been resorting to the Supreme Court to determine her claims. For this court to assume jurisdiction over the matters adjudicated by the Supreme Court would really be adding another forum, and usurping the powers of the Supreme Court in a ease still pending before that court.

(6) In Chusid (60 Misc 2d 462, supra) the Surrogate’s Court was, of course, at liberty to remove to it any matter or proceeding pending in the Family Court (SCPA 501). Accordingly, the decision there was stated to be “ in full satisfaction of * * * the orders of the Family Court ” (p. 470). This court [573]*573has no power to try the issues presented here over which the Supreme Court has exercised its jurisdiction (SCPA 501).

(7) The Chusid case (60 Misc 2d 462, supra) aptly points out (p. 469) that the Littauer case (285 App. Div. 95, supra) “

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Related

In re the Estate of Littauer
285 A.D. 95 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1954)
In re the Estate of Chusid
60 Misc. 2d 462 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1969)

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Bluebook (online)
69 Misc. 2d 570, 330 N.Y.S.2d 737, 1972 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2004, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-mester-nysurct-1972.