AFTER FATHER’S DEATH, SON COULD NOT SEEK AN INJUNCTION AGAINST MOTHER AND SUE MOTHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT BASED UPON MOTHER AND FATHER’S AGREEMENT NOT TO MODIFY OR REVOKE THEIR WILLS WITHOUT THE MUTUAL CONSENT OF THE PARTIES.
The Second Department determined plaintiff-son’s complaint seeking an injunction prohibiting his mother (defendant) from transferring any property mother inherited from father (Vitus) was properly dismissed. Mother and father, by contract, agreed not to modify or revoke their wills without the “mutual written consent of the parties.” The court found there was no contractual impediment to mother’s transferring (the inherited) property after father’s death and plaintiff could not maintain a breach of contract action during defendant’s lifetime:
Contrary to the plaintiff’s contention, there is nothing in the unambiguous language of the agreement which prevents the defendant from making inter vivos gifts or transfers of assets she inherited from Vitus’s residuary estate … . Accordingly, the Supreme Court correctly, pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(1), directed dismissal of the causes of action for injunctive relief and breach of contract to the extent that they are based on any past and future inter vivos transfers of any property inherited by the defendant from Vitus’s residuary estate.
Accepting the facts as alleged in the complaint as true, and according the plaintiff the benefit of every possible favorable inference (see CPLR 3211[a][7] …), the Supreme Court correctly directed the dismissal of the complaint to the extent that it sought to enjoin the defendant from breaching the agreement by revoking or modifying her will or executing a new will. During the defendant’s lifetime, the plaintiff is precluded from maintaining an action predicated upon a breach of the agreement as it relates to the defendant’s promise not to revoke or modify her will or execute a new will … . Tretter v Tretter, 2017 NY Slip Op 03982, 2nd Dept 5-17-17
TRUSTS AND ESTATES (AFTER FATHER’S DEATH, SON COULD NOT SEEK AN INJUNCTION AGAINST MOTHER AND SUE MOTHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT BASED UPON MOTHER AND FATHER’S AGREEMENT NOT TO MODIFY OR REVOKE THEIR WILLS WITHOUT THE MUTUAL CONSENT OF THE PARTIES)/CONTRACT LAW (TRUSTS AND ESTATES, AFTER FATHER’S DEATH, SON COULD NOT SEEK AN INJUNCTION AGAINST MOTHER AND SUE MOTHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT BASED UPON MOTHER AND FATHER’S AGREEMENT NOT TO MODIFY OR REVOKE THEIR WILLS WITHOUT THE MUTUAL CONSENT OF THE PARTIES)