Sang Kim Nguyen v. Tran

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

Sang Kim Nguyen v. Tran

126 A.D.3d 544, 2 N.Y.S.3d 901

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided March 17, 2015·No. 14525 1785/12·Published

Opinion

Order, Surrogate’s Court, New York County (Nora S. Anderson, S.), entered May 22, 2014, which denied objectant Margaret Tran’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the petition, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Surrogate’s Court has broad discretionary authority to exercise its equity jurisdiction in fulfilling its responsibilities relating to the affairs of decedents, the probate of wills, and the administration of estates (see NY Const, art VI, § 12 [e]; Matter of Stortecky v Mazzone, 85 NY2d 518, 523 [1995]; Matter of Tarka, 41 AD3d 345 [1st Dept 2007]).

The court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in permitting petitioner to present evidence supporting her claim that she was decedent’s surviving spouse, despite statements in her tax returns that she was “single,” in that marital status is a mixed question of law and fact (see Glenbriar Co. v Lipsman, 11 AD3d 352, 353 [1st Dept 2004], affd 5 NY3d 388 [2005]; Village Dev. Assoc. v Walker, 282 AD2d 369 [1st Dept 2001]).

Concur — Sweeny, J.P., Renwick, Saxe, ManzanetDaniels and Gische, JJ.

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Order, Surrogate’s Court, New York County (Nora S. Anderson, S.), entered May 22, 2014, which denied objectant Margaret Tran’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the petition, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Surrogate’s Court has broad discretionary authority to exercise its equity jurisdiction in fulfilling its responsibilities relating to the affairs of decedents, the probate of wills, and the administration of estates (see NY Const, art VI, § 12 [e]; Matter of Stortecky v Mazzone, 85 NY2d 518, 523 [1995]; Matter of Tarka, 41 AD3d 345 [1st Dept 2007]).

The court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in permitting petitioner to present evidence supporting her claim that she was decedent’s surviving spouse, despite statements in her tax returns that she was “single,” in that marital status is a mixed question of law and fact (see Glenbriar Co. v Lipsman, 11 AD3d 352, 353 [1st Dept 2004], affd 5 NY3d 388 [2005]; Village Dev. Assoc. v Walker, 282 AD2d 369 [1st Dept 2001]).

Concur — Sweeny, J.P., Renwick, Saxe, ManzanetDaniels and Gische, JJ.

Sang Kim Nguyen v. Tran, 126 A.D.3d 544, 2 N.Y.S.3d 901 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2015).

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Opinion

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