In re the Estate of Schreiter

169 Misc. 2d 706, 647 N.Y.S.2d 69, 1996 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 323
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedAugust 21, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 169 Misc. 2d 706 (In re the Estate of Schreiter) 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 Schreiter, 169 Misc. 2d 706, 647 N.Y.S.2d 69, 1996 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 323 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Renee R. Roth, S.

The threshold issue in this proceeding to compel First Union Bank of Connecticut, formerly First Fidelity Bank and Union Trust Company (First Union), to render an accounting to this court as "de facto” trustee of three trusts established under the will of Harriett A. Schreiter, is whether the court has personal jurisdiction over First Union.

Mrs. Schreiter died on July 31, 1939 survived by two daughters, Ruth Binderman and Elsa Weekes. Under her will, admitted to probate by this court, testatrix created trusts for the life income benefit of each of her daughters and provided that, if the first daughter to die left no issue, the trusts continued for the benefit of the surviving daughter and, upon her death without issue, the principal of the trusts would be distributed to Mrs. Schreiter’s "heirs at law”. Letters testamentary and of trusteeship were issued to decedent’s daughter Ruth and Attorney Arthur Sutherland. Sutherland died on September 30, 1948. The nominated successor trustee, a bank, renounced its nomination and no substitute was appointed. Thus, Ruth served as sole trustee from 1948 until her death in 1988. The assets of the trust were held at Chemical Bank in New York.

In 1984, after daughter Elsa, who lived in Connecticut, apparently became incapacitated, First Union was appointed her conservator. By letters dated November 4, 1986 and April 17, 1987, Joseph Mattice, an attorney who represented Ruth in New Jersey where she was domiciled, informed First Union’s Vice-President, Richard W. Mann, that Ruth’s deteriorating mental condition prevented her from performing her duties as trustee. No application, however, was made to this court to have Ruth removed as trustee and a successor appointed. Instead, on May 23, 1987, First Union and the 90-year-old allegedly confused trustee executed an investment management agreement which provided in pertinent part: "You (First Union) are to invest and reinvest the property and funds in [708]*708this account without consulting me in advance as you may deem to be in my best interests and in accordance with such investment objectives as may have been mutually determined.” Thereafter, contrary to New York law prohibiting the removal of estate property from this State without court approval (SCPA 710 [4]; see, SCPA 711 [7]), the trust assets were transferred to First Union in Connecticut.

Although the record does not contain any correspondence between Ruth and First Union, there are several communications from the bank to Mattice. On October 30, 1987, First Union sent Mattice a copy of an internal memo concerning the bank’s investment policy with respect to the stock market decline on Blue Monday (Oct. 19, 1987) and indicated that Ruth’s income would be sent to Mattice.

Ruth died without issue on March 4, 1988. Her will, naming Mattice as executor and residuary beneficiary, was admitted to probate on April 11, 1988 by the Surrogate’s Court in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Two months later (on May 3, 1988) Elsa died, also without issue. Her will, admitted to probate in Connecticut, left her assets to her housekeeper. The death of Elsa, the remaining income beneficiary, terminated the trusts.

It is alleged that despite the fact that there was no duly appointed trustee and no income beneficiary, First Union continued to manage the trust assets as de facto trustee. On August 29, 1990, 29 months after the death of trustee Ruth, First Union by letter advised Mattice that: "It is our contention that you will have to contact the Surrogate’s Court which issued Letters Testamentary [sic] to Mrs. Binderman. The notification should include date of death and a request for the appointment of a temporary trustee to complete the administration of both these trusts. Union Trust should be considered for this appointment”.

On January 29, 1992, almost four years after the death of Ruth, Mattice filed a petition to settle the final accounts of these trusts in his capacity as executor of the estate of the deceased trustee. Incident to that proceeding, a guardian ad litem was appointed to represent Mrs. Schreiter’s "heirs at law”. The guardian filed an interim report which raised significant issues and requested the appointment of a successor trustee. After several conferences, a successor fiduciary was appointed on April 25, 1995 so that, inter alia, the trust assets could be returned to New York. Such trustee thereafter brought this proceeding to compel First Union to account for its management of the trusts as de facto trustee.

[709]*709The successor fiduciary observes that from March 1988 through the end of 1990, First Union paid itself a fee from the assets of the terminated trusts in the same amount as during Ruth’s life. Further, although First Union did not take quarterly fees at the end of 1990, in 1993 the bank paid itself fees for the period from September 8, 1990 through March 17, 1993. Finally, before transferring the assets to the successor trustee and contrary to his admonition, First Union paid itself additional fees. It is contended that the sum taken by the bank, without authorization after the trustee’s death, exceeds $90,000. It is also contended that, because of the bank’s conduct, the trust principal suffered a loss exceeding $1,000,000. Mr. Mattice died on July 13, 1995. First Union contends that it never was a trustee and in any event this court lacks personal jurisdiction.

We turn now to the question of jurisdiction. A court may obtain personal jurisdiction over a party in one of three ways. First, the court may have jurisdiction when the party to any cause of action has a sufficient presence in the State, e.g., conducts regular and systematic business within the State (see, CPLR 301). Second, the court may obtain "long-arm” jurisdiction over a party as to a particular cause of action based on the existence of certain minimum contacts with the forum State that relate to the cause of action (SCPA 210; CPLR 302 [a]; International Shoe Co. v Washington, 326 US 310). Finally, the court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a party not otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the court if the party consents (Restatement [Second] of Conflict of Laws §§ 32, 43).

Since First Union contests this court’s jurisdiction and it is conceded that its ties to New York are too tenuous to support a finding of general jurisdiction, jurisdiction, if it exists, must be based on one of the long-arm statutes.

The statute governing long-arm jurisdiction in the Surrogate’s Court, SCPA 210, was enacted in 1967 with the express purpose of expanding the court’s in personam jurisdiction (see generally, Revisers’ Notes to SCPA 210, Sixth and Final Report of Temp St Commn on Estates, 1967 NY Legis Doc No. 19, Appendix M, at 453 [hereinafter Bennett Report]). The statute provides three general bases of jurisdiction, two of which parallel provisions of the CPLR. The third jurisdictional predicate of the statute, SCPA 210 (2) (b) (the quoted provision), which has no CPLR counterpart (see, Independence Sav. Bank v Freed, 154 Misc 2d 472), provides that: "The receipt and acceptance of any property paid or distributed out of and as part of the [710]

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Bluebook (online)
169 Misc. 2d 706, 647 N.Y.S.2d 69, 1996 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-schreiter-nysurct-1996.