Guardianship Practice

Kutzin Named as Co-Chair of NYSBA Task Force on Remote Notarization and Witnessing of Estate Planning Documents

During the COVID-19 health care crisis, McCarthy Fingar lawyers have remotely supervised the execution of many Wills, Trust Agreements and related documents. We are pleased to announce that Michael S. Kutzin, a member of various groups, including our Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates and Surrogate’s Court Litigation groups, has been named as a co-Chair of the NYSBA Joint Elder Law and Trusts & Estates Sections Task Force on Remote Notarization and Remote Witnessing of Estate Planning documents.

Kutzin Wins Appeal on Guardianship Matter Involving Dispute Between Divorced Parents

McCarthy Fingar lawyers represent clients in the most difficult guardianship cases. In Matter of A.A. v. A., 2020 NY Slip Op 03468 (1st Dep’t 2020),  Michael S. Kutzin, a partner of the firm whose areas of concentration include guardianship and trusts & estates, represented, on a pro bono basis, the mother of an incapacitated child in an appeal to the Appellate Division, First Department, of a lower court decision in which, after a divorce, the mother had been named the guardian for her daughter, J.A. Michael succeeded in having the father’s appeal denied on the grounds that the lower court had properly exercised its discretion in naming the mother as guardian and that he had no independent right to have his adult child brought to a physician of his choice to prove his case.

Borrelli Lectures on Judicial Ethics

Judge Edward P. Borrelli, a member of our Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates, Matrimonial & Family Law, Appellate Practice and Mediation & Arbitration Practice groups, lectured in Manhattan on “Judicial Ethics Update – 2020”, at the Annual Convention for the New York State Association of Towns, as part of its Town and Village Justices Program.

Michael S. Kutzin Joins Firm as Partner

We are pleased to announce that Michael S. Kutzin has joined the firm as a partner and is a member of our Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates, Surrogate’s Court Litigation, Appellate Practice, Exempt Organizations, Taxation and Charitable Gift Planning groups. Michael joins McCarthy Fingar from Goldfarb Abrandt Salzman & Kutzin LLP, where he had been a partner for 17 years. Michael has extensive experience with all forms of Surrogate’s Court and Guardianship proceedings, from the most routine to the most complex and contentious. He has appeared in Westchester matters for years, as well as Surrogate’s Court and Guardianship cases in New York City.

Borrelli Lectures to New Judges on Judicial Ethics

Judge Edward P. Borrelli, a member of our  Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates, Matrimonial & Family Law, Appellate Practice and Mediation & Arbitration Practice groups,  lectured at the NYS Judicial Institute in White Plains, New York on “Judicial Ethics”, for the Unified Court System Certification Program for Newly-elected Town and Village Justices.

Borrelli Lectures on Judicial Ethics for New Judges

Judge Edward P. Borrelli, a member of our Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates, Matrimonial & Family Law, Appellate Practice and Mediation & Arbitration Practice groups, lectured in Albany, New York on “Assuming the Bench – Judicial Ethics”, for the Unified Court System Certification Program for Newly-elected Town and Village Justices.

Borrelli Lectures to Law Students on Judicial Ethics

Judge Edward P. Borrelli, a member of our Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates, Matrimonial & Family Law, Appellate Practice and Mediation & Arbitration Practice groups,  was a guest lecturer in White Plains, New York at a Professional Responsibility class at Pace Law School (Elisabeth Haub School of Law), speaking on “How Judicial Ethics Issues impact your Law Practice”.

Borrelli Lectures on Judicial Ethics

Judge Edward P. Borrelli, a member of our Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates, Matrimonial & Family Law, Appellate Practice and Mediation & Arbitration Practice groups, lectured in Lake Placid, New York on “Judicial Ethics Update – 2019”, at the Annual Convention of the NYS Magistrates’ Association, as part of its Justices’ Advanced Certification Program.

Borrelli is Dinner Speaker for Association of Supreme Court Justices

Judge Edward P. Borrelli, a member of our Guardianship Practice, Trusts & Estates, Matrimonial & Family Law, Appellate Practice and Mediation & Arbitration Practice groups, was a dinner speaker for the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the City of New York in Queens, New York.

Matter of A.A. v. A., 2020 NY Slip Op 03468 (1st Dep’t 2020)

Michael S. Kutzin

McCarthy Fingar lawyers represent clients in the most difficult guardianship cases, including disputes over a guardianship of an adult child. While most people understand issues involving the care and custody of children is often front-and-center in a divorce case, sometimes even adult children with disabilities become collateral damage of a divorce as parents battle over guardianship of an adult child. This can happen for myriad reasons, including where well-meaning but ill-advised parents have a different vision for what kind of care the disabled child should receive. In Matter of A.A. v. A., Michael S. Kutzin, a partner of the firm whose areas of concentration include guardianship and Trusts & Estates, represented, on a pro bono basis, the mother of an incapacitated child in the appeal to the Appellate Division, First Department, of a lower court decision in which, after a divorce, the mother had been named the guardian for her daughter, J.A. The father had fought to become his daughter’s guardian and appealed the lower court decision, arguing that the daughter’s incapacity was brought on by the anti-psychotic medication that she was taking. The father further argues that he should have the right to take his daughter to a physician of his own choice, in his effort to demonstrate that it was the medicines that caused her illness. The mother, who had already prevailed in Family Court against such allegations when she obtained custody while the child was a minor, was named guardian in the lower court proceeding. Michael succeeded in having the father’s appeal denied on the grounds that the lower court had properly exercised its discretion in naming the mother as guardian and that he had no independent right to have his adult child brought to a physician of his choice to prove his case. The First Department uphold the lower court decision, finding that the mother “had been diligently caring for [the daughter] for years and appropriately attended to her needs, and the absence of any evidence supporting plaintiff’s claims of improper medical treatment . . . “

Relocation to Different State – Lack of Support Systems for Incapacitated Person

Michael S. Kutzin

Guardianship cases are designed to be flexible tools to protect the interests of an incapacitated person. Sometimes, however, people forget that and become more concerned with technical compliance with the law than with protection of the incapacitated person. In January, 2020, Michael S. Kutzin persuaded a judge in Manhattan, over the objections of the City of New York, court appointed counsel and an institutional temporary co-guardian that the brother of the incapacitated person acted properly in relocating her from New York to Oregon without prior court approval when her safety was endangered. The incapacitated person, who lived alone, had no memory and little understanding of her circumstances, brought a young man into her apartment late at night. The young man was recorded in security cameras leaving the apartment very early in the morning. The Court agreed that, in the absence of any support systems in New York, the brother, who was also co-guardian, acted properly in removing his sister to Oregon to be closer to her father and family members, and approved his request to have the guardianship transferred to Oregon.

Family Hostility – Revocation of Health Care Proxy

Michael S. Kutzin

Physical distance and family hostility created a situation in which an elderly woman’s health care had become compromised. In 2019, Michael S. Kutzin  represented a longtime family friend of the elderly woman in obtaining guardianship for client who had a lifetime relationship with the elderly woman, and obtained the revocation of a Hawaiian daughter’s health care proxy. The Hawaiian daughter had a hostile relationship with a New York daughter who had attempted to provide care for their mother. The health care agent directed medical providers not to listen to the New York daughter and to keep their mother’s medical information from her. As a result of the conflict between the daughters, their mother’s medical care had become compromised. For various reasons, the New York daughter was not a suitable candidate to become guardian of her mother, so, at the mother’s request, the friend intervened. A Manhattan agreed with Michael’s argument that the hostility between the daughters put their mother’s care at risk, and found that the longtime family friend was the most appropriate person to serve as guardian.