Matter of Hoffman, 6 Misc. 3d 1011A, 800 N.Y.S.2d 342 (Surr. Ct., Westchester 2004)

Surrogate’s Court Litigation – Will & Trust Contests – Revocable Trusts

“Will Contests” take different forms, and the lawyers in our Surrogate’s Court Litigation group have experience in virtually every area. Trustees of a purported revocable inter vivos trust may claim title to property that would otherwise be disposed of under a Will or by intestacy (without a Will). In a relatively novel case, in Hoffman, the firm represented a client who was a beneficiary under her husband’s Will of a membership in the New York Stock Exchange. However, even before the execution of his Will, the decedent allegedly created a revocable trust agreement for the benefit of a child of a prior marriage and allegedly transferred his NYSE seat to the trust. The NYSE seat had not been transferred to the trust through any assignment process but had been listed on a schedule of assets of the trust, with the following notation: “1. Membership in the New York Stock Exchange. The NY Stock Exchange does not permit registration of memberships in the name of trustees. Grantor and Trustees recognize this to be the case.” Citing the provisions of a relatively new statute, EPTL 7-1.18, McCarthy Fingar lawyers, Frank W. Streng, Deborah Yurchuk McCarthy and Robert M. Redis, sought summary judgment against the trustees strictly on the question of the effectiveness of the transfer, arguing, among other things, that the recital of the NYSE seat as an asset of the trust in a schedule was not enough to consummate the transfer. The Court agreed and dismissed this portion of the trustees’ case.