In re the Estate of Prankard

187 Misc. 2d 566, 723 N.Y.S.2d 315, 2000 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 592
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedDecember 18, 2000
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 187 Misc. 2d 566 (In re the Estate of Prankard) 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 Prankard, 187 Misc. 2d 566, 723 N.Y.S.2d 315, 2000 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 592 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2000).

Opinion

[567]*567OPINION OF THE COURT

Albert J. Emanuelli, S.

Corporate Trustee Commissions — SCPA 2312

In consolidated contested proceedings to settle the final accounts of two testamentary trusts (Trusts) created under article seven of the will of Harry I. Prankard, 2nd (decedent), a hearing was held upon remand from the Appellate Division, Second Department, with respect to the application of petitioner Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, the surviving trustee of said Trusts (petitioner), for an award of “reasonable compensation” for its fiduciary commissions, pursuant to SCPA 2312.1

Contentions

Petitioner contends that it is entitled to “reasonable compensation” under SCPA 2312 in the amounts it collected from the Trusts over the accounting period in question, based solely upon its published commissions rates within its competitive “marketplace,” without regard for 12 additional factors this court previously applied in Matter of McDonald (138 Misc 2d 577 [1988, Brewster, S.] [McDonald — I]) in assessing whether it is entitled to commissions above that normally charged by an individual trustee.2

Objectants, the executors of the estate of Dorothy Prankard (Dorothy), decedent’s now-deceased surviving spouse, contend that petitioner’s entitlement to “reasonable compensation” under SCPA 2312 should not be determined strictly upon petitioner’s published rates, and, instead, should be determined only after the court’s assessment of all factors set forth in Matter of McDonald (supra), which were specifically derived from the legislative history underlying the passage of SCPA 2312.

[568]*568Background3

Decedent’s Estate and Trusts “A” and “B”

Decedent died testate in July 1964, leaving a will and a codicil, both of which were admitted to probate in August 1964.

Pursuant to article one of the will, petitioner and John L. Gray, the will’s draftsman, were named coexecutors and co-trustees, with a provision that if Gray were to “cease for any reason to act” in either fiduciary capacity, petitioner was to act alone as executor and/or trustee. Gray served with petitioner as coexecutor and cotrustee until his death in 1982.

Also, article first of the codicil provides for the compensation of petitioner as a fiduciary pursuant to “the laws of the State of New York from time to time in effect.”

Under article seven of his will, decedent established the two Trusts in question to distribute his residuary estate, to wit: (i) Trust A, comprised of two thirds of his residuary estate, of which Dorothy was the sole beneficiary, and (ii) Trust B, comprised of the remaining one third of the residuary estate, of which decedent’s sister Ethel Mae Brown was primary beneficiary.

Upon Ethel’s death in May 1989, Dorothy became the sole income beneficiary of both Trusts, until her death in June 1993.

The Accountings

In the underlying accounting proceedings, which cover the period from November 1984 through October 15, 1993, petitioner has sought, inter alia, judicial settlement of its accounts regarding Trust A and Trust B, and has already paid itself commissions for its administration of both Trusts, based on its own applicable commission schedules, as “reasonable compensation” under SCPA 2312 for the requisite period, as follows: (i) as to Trust A, $131,026.51 ($66,585.33 from principal and $64,441.18 from income), and (ii) as to Trust B, $73,783.26 ($36,891.63 from principal and $36,891.63 from income), for aggregate commissions paid $204,809.77.

The court previously allowed petitioner commissions in amounts equal to commissions awardable pursuant to SCPA [569]*5692309 for the requisite period, to wit: for Trust A, $72,789.01 ($36,868.50 from principal and $35,920.51 from income), and for Trust B, $48,597.26 ($24,298.63 from principal and $24,298.63 from income), for aggregate commissions awarded of $121,386.27.4

Petitioner’s Summary Judgment Motion

In its motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of all seven objections, petitioner submitted the following pertinent information: (1) its respective three commission schedules for the periods in question; (2) an “affidavit” from Daniel Drake, petitioner’s managing director, describing the general nature and breadth of petitioner’s trustee services and its general investment objectives and strategy (Drake affidavit); and (3) an affidavit by John Powers, one of petitioner’s vice-presidents and the managing officer of the Trusts as of February 1993 (Powers Affidavit — I), wherein Powers averred, inter alia, that (i) during the accounting period, Dorothy’s needs were reviewed “several” times, upon which petitioner determined that principal distributions were unwarranted, and (ii) the Trusts received a 20% discount from the applicable commission rates petitioner generally charged, due to petitioner’s investment of the Trusts’ principal “exclusively” in common trust funds.

An examination before trial of Powers and numerous exhibits support objectants’ allegations that, during the accounting period: (i) petitioner had only “sporadic” contact with Dorothy prior to her death, and (ii) petitioner lacked substantive internal records with respect to its administration of the Trusts.

The March 1996 Order

By its March 1996 order, the court dismissed six of the objections, reserving judgment as to the objection to petitioner’s application for SCPA 2312 commissions.

The court further concluded that petitioner’s motion papers did not include sufficient “detailed information” regarding petitioner’s administration of the Trusts, as to allow the court to meaningfully assess petitioner’s entitlement to “reasonable compensation” in light of the criteria set forth in McDonald — I {supra), and invited petitioner to submit such additional proof.

Subsequently, petitioner resubmitted its commission schedules and the Drake affidavit, and provided another affidavit [570]*570from Powers (Powers Affidavit — II), wherein Powers alleged that petitioner had actively managed those Trusts and consulted with Dorothy regarding investment strategy, tax planning and general trust administration.

The July 1996 Decision

In its July 1996 decision, again relying upon McDonald — I (supra), the court found that petitioner was entitled to “reasonable compensation” equal only to the statutory minimum under SCPA 2312 — the amount of commissions to which an individual trustee would be entitled under SCPA 2309 (see, SCPA 2312 [4] [a]).

In doing so, the court concluded that, despite being given a second opportunity to do so, petitioner had again failed to meet its “burden” of establishing its entitlement to “reasonable compensation” above the statutory minimum under SCPA 2312 (4) (a), stating, inter alia: “[Petitioner has failed not only to adequately describe with particularity, inter alia, the time spent and the nature of the overall services it performed, but also to convince the court that any unusual skill or experience was warranted, or that any significant investment risk was present, during the administration of these trusts.” (Matter of Prankard, NYLJ, July 16, 1996, at 26, col 2,

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Bluebook (online)
187 Misc. 2d 566, 723 N.Y.S.2d 315, 2000 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-prankard-nysurct-2000.