Kutzin Wins Appeal on Guardianship Matter Involving Efforts to Reduce a Personal Needs Guardian’s Powers and to Reinstate a Health Care Proxy

Lawyers at McCarthy Fingar are often sought out by courts or other attorneys to handle the most difficult guardianship cases. In Matter of AMH, 2022 N.Y. Slip Op. 00968 (1st Dep’t 2022), Michael S. Kutzin, a partner of the firm whose areas of concentration include guardianship and trusts & estates, was appointed as litigation counsel by the lower court to spearhead AMH’s efforts to reduce her Personal Needs Guardian’s powers and to reinstate the health care proxy that AMH had given in 2015 to her daughter (a physician). The disgruntled son of nonagenarian AMH, who had not seen his mother for more than 4 years, opposed the relief sought by Mr. Kutzin. After multiple motions and a four-day hearing, Mr. Kutzin and his co-counsel obtained the requested relief for AMH; and the lower court denied everything requested by the son. The son’s litigious efforts continued in the Appellate Division, First Department, where he filed three separate appeals and multiple motions, but to no avail. Mr. Kutzin, leading the efforts in the Appellate Division, persuaded the Appellate Division to uphold the lower court’s decision.

Subin Joins Firm as Counsel

We are pleased to announce that Joshua B. Subin has joined our firm as counsel. Joshua is a former Assistant Town Attorney with the Town of Cortlandt and is a member of our Municipal Law & Land Use and Commercial Litigation groups. Joshua practices in the areas of New York municipal law, zoning, planning, litigation and environmental law. He counsels municipal entities in Westchester County, including Boards of Trustees, Planning Boards, Zoning Boards of Appeal. Joshua also represents private clients on zoning and planning approvals on real estate development throughout Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Counties. He is also a respected commercial litigator and represents private clients in litigation matters, including, but not limited to, commercial, contract, land use and zoning and real property disputes.

McCarthy Fingar’s “Super Lawyers”

Six of McCarthy Fingar’s lawyers have been selected Super Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area. Susan Taxin Baer has again been selected in the fields of Estate Planning & Probate. Gail M. Boggio has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation/Estate Planning & Probate/Elder Law. Michael S. Kutzin has again been selected in the fields of Estate Planning & Probate, Estate & Trust Litigation and Elder Law. James K. Landau has again been selected in the fields of Commercial Litigation and Appellate. Frank W. Streng has again been selected in the fields of Estate & Trust Litigation and Estate Planning & Probate. Douglas S. Trokie has again been selected in the fields of Business/Corporate, Closely Held Business, Real Estate, Business and Civil Litigation. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have been recognized by their colleagues as having the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Rosh and Bramson Win Appeal on Appointment of Successor Trustee

McCarthy Fingar’s Surrogate’s Court Litigation lawyers represent clients in all phases of litigation on trusts and estates matters, including proceedings seeking the appointment or replacement of trustees of living or testamentary trusts. In Matter of Burrows, Robert H. Rosh and Howell Bramson, representing the preliminary executors of the decedent’s estate, won on summary judgment a proceeding in which their clients sought the appointment of a successor co-trustee of a multi-million dollar, living (grantor) trust (the “Trust”). On appeal, the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, unanimously affirmed the Surrogate’s Court decision and order granting our clients’ summary judgment motion. On their summary judgment motion, Rosh and Bramson established that the trust instrument required that the Trust be administered by two (2) trustees, but that, through deposition testimony and documentary evidence, the sole surviving co-trustee of the Trust was unfit to administer the Trust without the assistance of a co-trustee. In finding that the surviving co-trustee was unfit, the Surrogate’s Court found that the surviving co-trustee had failed to comply with various terms of the trust instrument, and had improperly delegated his fiduciary duties thereunder to another individual for years after the resignation of the original co-trustee of the Trust. The Surrogate’s Court consequently concluded that “[g]iven [the surviving co-trustee’s] less than adequate interest/ability to solely administer the Trust[,] together with the nature and language of the Trust, . . . two trustees (co-trustees) [were] necessary.” In granting our motion, the Surrogate’s Court further pointed out, and found, that the surviving co-trustee’s counsel’s argument that the proceeding was barred under the doctrine of res judicata, was without merit.

Kutzin is Co-Author of “New York Elder Law”

As of the January 2021 edition, Michael S. Kutzin, a member of various groups, including our Guardianship Practice,  Taxation and Trusts & Estates groups, became a co-author, along with Tara Anne Pleat, Esq., of the LexisNexis treatise, New York Elder Law.  The publication, which is one of the premier publications in the field, contains comprehensive analysis and practice guidance for trusts & estates, elder law and special needs attorneys practicing in New York. Some topics that are discussed include: planning for incapacity (property management & health care decisions); Medicare and long-term care insurance; Medicaid; supplemental needs trusts; guardianships; estate planning and wills; health care coverage and resources; financial planning; income and estate tax; and elder abuse.