In re the Estate of Wolf

38 Misc. 3d 564, 958 N.Y.S.2d 867, 2012 NY Slip Op 22364, 2012 WL 6163106, 2012 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5532
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedNovember 30, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 38 Misc. 3d 564 (In re the Estate of Wolf) 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 Wolf, 38 Misc. 3d 564, 958 N.Y.S.2d 867, 2012 NY Slip Op 22364, 2012 WL 6163106, 2012 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5532 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Diana A. Johnson, S.

In this probate proceeding, the decedent was survived by his spouse and three children. The decedent’s surviving spouse, Raquel Wolf, has petitioned for the probate of two instruments dated June 9, 2005 and June 21, 2006 purporting to be the decedent’s last will and testament and codicil thereto, respectively. The decedent’s son, Chaim Wolf, has cross-petitioned for probate of an instrument dated April 15, 2011 that provides the following:

“Commonwealth of Pennsylvania “County of Allegheny
“To my family and employees. I, Mr. Hirsch Wolf, would like the following instituted as soon as possible:
“1. Chaim will be in charge of making all decisions with me or for me.
“2. Chaim should be a signee on all my accounts.
This includes personal, business, and tzedaka.
“3. All dealings in the past as well as present resulting in financial gain and loss both personal and business, have been and are my business decisions.
“4. I would like Chaim involved in all my affairs and to be carbon copied (c.c.) on all correspondence pertaining to me on a daily basis.
[566]*566“5. I want my estate to stay intact throughout my life and the life of my wife, aside from disbursements my wife would like to make, i.e. education, yomim tovim, weddings birthdays, etc.
“6. I would like Chaim to work together with Mrs.
Wolf. (Raquel)
“7.1 would like Chaim’s salary to continue at a rate of $25,000 per month with an annual increase of 5% as of January 2011, to continue throughout my life and the life of my wife.
“8. I would like the two shuls in Passaic to remain under Chaim’s jurisdiction and he be in charge of making all decisions regarding them.
“9. I would like the letter that was previously written regarding Luxor Estates to be null and void.
The house should revert to it’s original status under Chaim’s name.
“10. I would like to give a one time disbursement of 3.5 million dollars to Chaim. This money is separate and in addition to the salary and portion that Chaim is entitled to as one of my children stipulated in my will.
“11. I would like Chaim to continue preserving the Wolf family legacy and his commitment to be respectful to his mother and to his sisters and shalom in the family.
“12. I want all dealings pertaining to Chaim and myself to be kept strictly confidential for the sake of peace in the family . This confidentiality should not be breached, even to my other children.”

The instrument appears to bear what purports to be the signatures of the decedent, the petitioner, two witnesses and a notary public commissioned in Pennsylvania.

The petitioner has moved for an order pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7), dismissing the cross petition for failure to state a cause of action. The cross petitioner has opposed the motion to dismiss his cross petition.

A motion pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) may be made any time before the service of a responsive pleading is required. The cross petitioner alleges that this motion to dismiss the cross petition must be denied as untimely. The cross petitioner has made no indication in his papers as to when he alleges the time to make the current motion expired, nor is there any indication as [567]*567to when service of process was completed on petitioner. The statute provides that objections may be filed by persons adversely affected by the probate of the proffered instrument on or before the return date of process with certain exceptions (SCPA 1410). Jurisdiction appears to have been completed in this matter on September 27, 2012 after the petitioner made the current motion. Therefore, the current motion was timely made.

CPLR 3211 (a) (7) provides for dismissal for failure to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted. On a motion to dismiss, the court must determine whether a cause of action has been stated by viewing the pleading in the aspect most favorable to the pleader (Arnav Indus., Inc. Retirement Trust v Brown, Raysman, Millstein, Felder & Steiner, 96 NY2d 300 [2001]). For the purposes of the motion, all of the allegations in the petition must be accepted as true (Arnav Indus., Inc. Retirement Trust v Brown, Raysman, Millstein, Felder & Steiner, 96 NY2d 300 [2001]).

In her motion, the petitioner, by her attorney, alleges that New York law is applicable, even though the instrument was executed in Pennsylvania. The petitioner also argues that even were Pennsylvania law applicable, the proffered instrument would not be admissible to probate as a will under the laws of Pennsylvania. The cross petitioner argues, by his attorney, essentially that Pennsylvania law is applicable and if the document is admissible under Pennsylvania law, it is admissible in New York.

In New York, the statute provides that the substantive rules of wills attempting to dispose of real property are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction where the real property is situated. The substantive rules of wills attempting to dispose of personal property are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction of the decedent’s domicile (EPTL 3-5.1 [b]). Where a will attempts to dispose of real property in the State of New York or personal property, wherever situated, the formalities of a will’s execution and attestation may be governed by the laws of either New York, the state where the will was executed or the decedent’s domicile at the time of his death or execution (EPTL 3-5.1 [c]). The decedent’s estate consists of over $12,000,000 in real property located in New York State and approximately $50,000 of personal property. In addition, it is undisputed that the decedent was domiciled in New York. Therefore, the substantive laws of New York must be applied to determine if the proffered instrument is a valid will {see EPTL 3-5.1 [b]).

[568]*568In a probate proceeding, the petition must contain several allegations including a description of the instrument that the petitioner offers for probate (see SCPA 1402). Any instrument that the petitioner seeks to have admitted to probate must be testamentary in character (Matter of Rundberg, 177 Misc 43 [Sur Ct, Richmond County 1941]). The test in determining whether an instrument is a will, is whether the maker intended the instrument to have no effect until after the maker’s death, or whether he intended to transfer some present interest (Matter of Dash, 120 NYS2d 621 [Sur Ct, Queens County 1953]). The instrument must appear upon its face to be of testamentary character and the mere fact that it appears to have been executed with all of the statutory formalities required of a will does not alone entitle it to be admitted to probate (see Matter of Pascal, 309 NY 108 [1955]). The court must endeavor to determine from the language used the decedent’s intent (see Matter of May, 241 NY 1 [1925]).

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Bluebook (online)
38 Misc. 3d 564, 958 N.Y.S.2d 867, 2012 NY Slip Op 22364, 2012 WL 6163106, 2012 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-wolf-nysurct-2012.