Tag: wills

court room

What should you ask the drafting attorney during the SCPA 1404 Examination?

If you are considering objecting to a will, the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act provides you with the right to question the drafting attorney.  But what should you ask?  

The questions for each specific case will vary.  However, in most cases you should ask questions about the attorney’s background and qualifications, the attorney’s prior interactions with the decedent and beneficiaries, the attorney’s prior legal representation of the decedent and beneficiaries, the existence of prior wills, the names of the decedent’s prior attorneys, who referred the decedent to the drafting attorney, who initiated the first contact for the services, where they met, who was present, what was discussed, the extent to which decedent discussed his family members and assets, what occurred during the will ceremony, the contents of the attorney’s notes and billing entries, whether the decedent was driven to the appointments, whether the decedent explained why he/she wanted to change his/her will, and any subsequent interactions between the decedent and the drafting attorney. 

Sample List of Questions

When were you admitted to practiced law in New York?

How long have you done estate planning?

When did you first meet the decedent?

When did you first perform any legal services for the decedent?

When did you first meet the beneficiary/named executor?

Have you ever performed any legal services for the beneficiary before?

Did the decedent have a prior will/estate plan?

How was it different than the will you drafted for him?

Do you know the name of the prior drafting attorney?

Did someone refer the decedent to you?  Who?

Who arranged for the first meeting between you and the decedent?

How did the decedent get to your office?

Who was present?

What did the decedent tell you?

What did you discuss with the decedent?

What did you discuss with the beneficiaries?

Did the decedent say anything about his family/assets?

Did the decedent ever tell you why he/she wanted to make the change to the will?

What is the basis for your conclusion that the decedent was of sound mind?

Did you prepare an engagement letter for the services? 

How much did you charge for your legal services? 

Who paid?   

Who signed check?

Who wrote out the check?

Do you have any (other) invoices or billing records to reflect the services performed?

Did you take any notes? 

Do you have any other notes other than these?

Did you send the decedent any letters/correspondence?

Did the decedent give you any writings/letters?

Did you have any other/subsequent interactions with the decedent?

Do you know the names of the decedent’s banks?  Medical providers?  Pharmacy?  Cell phone number and provider?

Do you know if the decedent made any beneficiary changes to any of his/her non-probate assets during such and such time period?

Do you know if the decedent had any Powers of Attorney?  Who was named as the agent?  Do you know if the decedent had any joint accounts with the beneficiaries?

Can a beneficiary recover the cost of attorney’s fees from estate litigation?

Generally, the fiduciary is entitled to recover the cost of attorney’s fees as a reasonable and necessary administration expense.  However, SCPA 2110 also authorizes the court to award attorney’s fees for legal services rendered to a beneficiary.  The court may direct payment directly from the estate generally or from certain funds in the hands of the fiduciary (SCPA 2110 [2]).

            In Matter of Rose BB., 35 AD3d 1044, 1045 (3d Dept 2006), for example, the court reiterated the well-recognized rule that “Surrogate’s Court may award counsel fees in situations where the misconduct of a fiduciary brings about the expense.”   There, the court affirmed the fee award, pointing to the other party’s “numerous instances of obstructing and prolonging an otherwise uncomplicated proceeding and his violation of his fiduciary duties.”  The record evidence also supported Surrogate’s Court’s finding that “with the exception of the ordinary administration of decedent’s estate, the proceedings … were necessitated by and attributable to … improper conduct.”

            Similarly, in Matter of Graves, 197 Misc 638, 639-640 (Sur Ct, Monroe County 1950), the court awarded fees out of the estate where, “without the performance of the services, the estate would have been charged additional commissions in the sum of $11,245.31.”  The court held that “where legal services have been rendered for the benefit of the estate which result in enlargement of the distributive shares of the estate beneficiaries, reasonable compensation should be granted out of the estate for such services” (id.).  “In such case the personal interests of the executors cause them and their counsel, in effect, to step aside and permit those whose interests are not inimical to the estate in general to protect the rights of the estate” (id.; see also Matter of Berg, 91 Misc 2d 939 [Sur Ct, New York County 1977] [awarding fees even though the court sustained only 3 of the objections and denied approximately $89,000 of the $100,000 surcharge requested]; Matter of Geller, 167 Misc 578, 578 [Sur Ct, Kings County 1938] [holding that the court may allow fees of an attorney for an interested party to be charged against the estate if the services were necessitated by the neglect of the fiduciary of his duties]).

            “The theory which justifies payment by the estate to the attorney of a beneficiary is that the attorney has represented the fiduciary who has defaulted in protecting or collecting the assets of the estate and, therefore, what would have been a proper charge for legal fees if the executor had acted, is a proper charge when the executor fails to act because of an adverse interest, disinclination or neglect” (Matter of Bellinger, 55 AD2d 448, 449-454 [4th Dept 1977]; see e.g. Matter of Berg, 91 Misc 2d at 939 [awarding fees even though the court sustained only 3 objections and denied approximately $89,000 of the $100,000 surcharge requested]; see also e.g. Matter of Del Monte, 37 AD2d 827, 827 [1st Dept 1971] [benefit to the estate for saving the estate disallowed commissions])

The Top 5 Types Of Documents to Request Prior to the SCPA 1404 Examination

When representing clients looking to challenge a will, we like to take full advantage of pre-objection discovery.  It is particularly helpful to review as much information about the decedent as possible prior to conducting the SCPA 1404 examination. We like to request and review the following types of documents:

Drafting Attorney’s Case File.  The best source for cross examination will be the drafting attorney’s case file.  We are particularly interested in the billing records, the attorney notes, and the correspondence.

Medical Records.  If we have the medical and financial records, we will use them to test the witnesses’ knowledge of the decedent’s health.  We will ask the drafting attorney and the attesting witnesses about their interactions with the decedent and whether they were aware of any physical or mental conditions suffered by the decedent.  Often, these witnesses may have been completely ignorant of significant underlying conditions, thereby calling into question the reliability of their opinions about the decedent’s capacity and the lack of undue influence.

If we do not have medical records in time for the exam, however, we may still proceed without the medical records to avoid delay.  To account for this, we will ask the witnesses about their knowledge of the decedent’s health and what the decedent told them about it.  We will then later compare the answers to the records we later obtain to see if the answers are accurate.

Phone Records.  If we have the phone records, we can determine how many times the decedent called the law office, the beneficiaries, and anyone else.  We may compare the records to the witnesses’ answers about durations of calls and the number of calls.  If the decedent told the witness that he or she did not have communications with our clients, we will check the phone records to see if the statement was accurate.

Prior Estate Planning Documents.  We look to prior estate planning documents to see if there was a deviation in the decedent’s estate plan and how long the prior plan existed.  We often ask the witnesses about their knowledge of a deviation and the reason given by the decedent for it.

Financial Records and Credit Card Statements.  We look to financial records and beneficiary change forms to see if the decedent gifted any funds to the beneficiaries and if any power of attorney was used to transfer funds on the decedent’s behalf.  Again, we ask the witnesses if they were aware of any of these circumstances when the will was executed. 

We also look to credit card statements to see where the decedent was at or around the time of the will execution and who the decedent may have been communicating with.  We also try to compare this information to other sources, such as the decedent’s emails, appointment book, calendar, and contact lists.

Preparing for the SCPA 1404 Exam: Case Study

Prior to filing objections to the validity of a decedent’s will, we conduct a thorough investigation into the facts of the case.  This requires us to examine the estate case file, the fiduciary’s records, and the decedent’s personal papers and communications.  We review the drafting attorney’s work product, criticize it, and try to tear it apart.  At the end of the day, our goal is to provide our clients with answers and advice about whether to file objections.

            In one particular case, we were confronted with a situation where the decedent disinherited his family members and left the bulk of his estate to someone he had met on the internet and knew for a very short period of time.  Sadly, the decedent ended up committing suicide shortly after. 

            We conducted a very thorough investigation into the facts of this case to prepare for the 1404 exam.  We first served an extensive document demand on the estate.  We requested items such as the estate’s case file and the decedent’s medical records, financial information, and written communications.  As in every case, we were particularly interested in communications between and among the decedent, the drafting attorney, the fiduciary, and the beneficiaries.

            We also served subpoenas on third party entities to obtain records, including the decedent’s phone records, emails, internet dating messages, and social media communications.  We were also able to obtain the case file of the police investigation into the decedent’s suicide.

            In this case, we went a step further than we normally do.  We hired a computer forensic examiner to examine the decedent’s computer.  As a result, we were able to view snapshots of emails and messages, as well as numerous word documents, PDFs and photographs that were located on the computer.  We were also able to view a list of the internet sites the decedent visited, the internet searches he conducted, and the places he may have driven based the addresses he typed into Google maps.

            By the time we got to the 1404 exam, we had a wealth of information to use for cross examination.

Disinheritance Problem Solved – Part 2

Solution

New York law permits a person making her estate plan to cut a pre probate deal with the person who will be cut out.  More specifically, this includes before the testator’s or parent’s death or lack of capacity.  This means that the person to be cut out can be dealt with directly by the testator or parent during the testator’s or parent’s life and on the testator’s own terms.  There are many benefits to this.  First, the person being cut out is required to deal directly with the testator or parent during the testator’s life – rather than fighting with siblings after the testator has died.  The strategy can reduce family strife after the decedent has died.  The commonly asked “why question” in connection with the testator’s estate plan, is answered during the testator’s life, i.e. by the parent, rather than in the court room in the context of a 1404 hearing.  There is immediacy.  In fact, the person cut out of the estate receives his funds (the carrot absent the string) first and before all those sharing in the estate.  There is certainty.  Attorney’s fees and the substantial costs of litigation are curtailed or eliminated. 

Mrs. Cook and Her Niece

Here is how the rule evolved from the thoughtful estate planning efforts of a widow.  In the early 1920s the Court of Appeals decided In re Cook’s Will 244 NY 63, a case which arose in Washington County.  Mrs. Cook was an elderly widow of wealth and decided to make a will disposing of her property to charities.  Her only heirs and next of kin were a sister, a niece and two nephews.  They all were all adults and not close with her.  In preparing for the disposition of her property, she wrote to her niece as follows:

Dear Katherine:

In making my will, it was my intention to bequeath you something.  After consideration, it occurred to me that it will give me greater pleasure to give it now, and you to receive it now, and in doing so I am asking you if you would be willing to sign and receipt an agreement, agreeing that in consideration of this gift now, that you agree that you will not at any time contest or join with others in contesting my will.  The same conditions apply to your (2) brothers, who must also sign such an agreement. *** Kindly let me have full names and addresses of your brothers.

Her niece’s reply indicated that she was glad to receive the gift from her Aunt as her brothers and herself were trying to secure a home for their respective families.  Having failed to state, however, anything about contesting the will, another letter followed on February 8, 1924, written by G.E Knowlton, on behalf of Mrs. Cook, where he stated:

Dear Mrs. Russell:

Mrs. Robert H. Cook has handed me your letter of January 21st in which you state that you would appreciate a gift from her, but you do not say that you will refrain from contesting her will.

May I ask you to be good enough to advise Mrs. Cook as to your attitude in this matter.

A few days afterwards her niece replied:

Dear Aunt Julia:

I am sorry that I omitted to state in my letter that I would agree to the agreements mentioned in your letter. I both appreciate and agree to those conditions.

Thereafter, her niece signed and sent to Mrs. Cook the following agreement:

Dated March 5, 1924.

Received from: Francis Julia Cook

….Dollars

As a gift from her and in consideration of this gift, I agree that I will not at any time contest or join with others in contesting her Will.

The court was confronted with the question:  Having received the advances or gifts under the circumstances, can these heirs and next of kin of Mrs. Cook now contest her will? 

Despite these writings they tried to do so. They alleged that Mrs. Cook was incompetent, and that her will was procured by fraud and undue influence.  In upholding the validity of the agreements not to contest Mrs. Cook’s will, the court held that agreements not to contest another’s will are not void as against public policy.  Further, the court stated that agreements made between heirs and next of kin after the death of the decedent have always been found valid when made in good faith.  Agreements made before the death of the testator regarding the future disposition to be made of the estate are akin to those implied in the taking of a legacy bequeathed upon the condition stated in the will that no contest shall be made.

The rule in New York, is that where a distributee in consideration of a gift from the family member (testator/decedent) during her lifetime, has agreed not to challenge the decedent’s will, he shall not file objections.  The central element of the rule is that by contracting with the decedent for the present day benefit, the distributee divests himself of legal standing to challenge the will.

The effective solution is an arrangement structured as a deal or a contract.  The deal is that the distributee receives present day benefit (payment) in exchange for the agreement not to the challenge the parent’s will on death.  The problem person or child is required to contract away, relinquish and waive the right to challenge the decedent’s will.  The approach is well founded in New York law such that it must be considered as an alternative to years of potential litigation between the disinherited distributee and the estate after the testator has died.

There are some important steps to be followed to avoid litigation.  The proper approach is significant because the ultimate arbiter of the validity of the agreement will be the Surrogate Judge after the testator has died and the distributee attempts to get out of the agreement.  It is recommended that experienced and strong lawyers be involved in the process.  To this end, it is important to have the distributee represented by his own lawyers.  He should not be represented by the decedent’s lawyers.  If money is an issue, the gift can include payment of the distributee’s legal fees under certain circumstances.  The process should be considered as one involving the negotiation of a contract or in the planning context, similar to negotiation of a waiver of a spousal right of election.

As was the case for Mrs. Cook, when done correctly a pre mortum and pre probate gift to a problem person or child can be efficacious and highly successful strategy to avoid estate litigation.

Disinheritance Problem- Solved

Intentions to disinherit in connection with the making of wills are not uncommon.  Disinheritance circumstances give rise to acrimony and much litigation.  In many cases, children and family members often find themselves dealing with these circumstances.

Clients planning their estates often are confounded with how to deal with a formed intention to cut someone out of sharing in the estate.  Putting feelings and emotions aside, it is a matter of carrying out the decedent’s intentions, money and fairness. 

Common Ineffective Solution Attempt

In estate cases in New York, many challenged estate plans contain an in terrorem clause with an additional provision stating that the particular person is cut out or left nothing.  It is not uncommon for a will to make specific reference to the fact that the decedent specifically considered and deliberately intended to leave the person out of the plan.  In some instances, no reasons are stated.  In other cases, no mention of the person is made. 

There are other cases where the will expressly states that the person cut out will not benefit from the will and advances the intended double whammy threat that if the person cut out challenges the will, that person is automatically cut out.  The client drawing the will feels satisfied.

This is a failing strategy and plan.  Coupling the in terrorem clause with a provision that the ditributee, problem person or child receives nothing sets up a guaranteed challenge to the will.   The double whammy threat is empty, meaningless and ineffectual.  In fact, in practice the attempted solution often invites litigation and has no estate litigation deterrent effect whatsoever.

Better Solution Attempt

Quite simply and more properly the in terrorem clause should actually be coupled with a sufficient and enticing incentive.  Think of the cart driver dangling the carrot in front of the mule on the stick extended in front of the animal’s mouth.  For illustration, include in the will an in terrorem clause with a specific bequest of say $20,000 for the problem person.  The incentive of a specific bequest in the plan coupled with the potential for enforcement of the in terrorem clause creates significant risk of forfeiture of the bequeathed sum.  The particular sum in each case must be thoughtfully determined, and often it is not or circumstances change.

This solution is entirely acceptable but in the context of litigation, can be a failure. The carrot and stick approach still subjects the plan to risk and chance – up in the air for future lawsuits.  There is a better approach, which will be discussed in the next blog post.