SURROGATE’S COURT, IN AWARDING ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR THE PETITION FOR JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT AND FINAL ACCOUNTING REGARDING A TRUST, DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED FINDINGS, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department remitted the matter to Surrogate’s Court for a determination of the reasonableness of the attorney’s fees Surrogate’s Court had awarded petitioner. Petitioner trustee filed a petition for judicial settlement and final accounting regarding a trust. Surrogate’s Court awarded attorney’s fees to the petitioner but did not make the required findings:
We … agree with objectants that the Surrogate erred in approving the attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements requested by petitioner without considering the required factors. “It is well settled that, in determining the proper amount of attorneys’ fees and costs, the court should consider the time spent, the difficulties involved in the matters in which the services were rendered, the nature of the services, the amount involved, the professional standing of the counsel, and the results obtained’ ” … .Here, the Surrogate failed to make any findings with respect to the Potts factors [Matter of Potts, 213 App Div 59, 62], and we are therefore unable to review the Surrogate’s implicit determination that the attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements are reasonable … . We therefore modify the decree by vacating the award of attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements, and we remit the matter to Surrogate’s Court for a determination whether those fees, costs and disbursements are reasonable, following a hearing if necessary … . Matter of JPmorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2018 NY Slip Op 00775, Fourth Dept 2-2-18
ATTORNEYS (FEES, SURROGATE’S COURT, IN AWARDING ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR THE PETITION FOR JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT AND FINAL ACCOUNTING REGARDING A TRUST DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED FINDINGS, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT))/TRUSTS AND ESTATES (ATTORNEY’S FEES, SURROGATE’S COURT, IN AWARDING ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR THE PETITION FOR JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT AND FINAL ACCOUNTING REGARDING A TRUST DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED FINDINGS, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT))/ATTORNEY’S FEES (SURROGATE’S COURT, IN AWARDING ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR THE PETITION FOR JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT AND FINAL ACCOUNTING REGARDING A TRUST DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED FINDINGS, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT))