PETITIONER WAS A PARTY ALONG WITH DECEDENT IN SEVERAL ACTIONS WHICH RESULTED IN PENDING APPEALS, PETITIONER THEREFORE HAD STANDING TO SEEK THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF THE DECEDENT, SURROGATE’S COURT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Surrogate’s Court, determined that petitioner had standing to seek the appointment of an administrator of the estate of the decedent who was a party, along with petitioner, is several actions which resulted in appeals pending before the Second Department:
In this proceeding, the petitioner, the founder of Five Towns College, seeks the appointment of an administrator for the estate of John D. Quinn (hereinafter the decedent), a former member of the college’s board of trustees. Prior to the decedent’s death, the petitioner and decedent were parties in a number of actions that resulted in four appeals pending before this Court … . Those appeals were automatically stayed pending the substitution of a legal representative for the decedent pursuant to CPLR 1015(a).
The Surrogate’s Court dismissed the petition, finding that the petitioner lacked standing to bring the petition. The petitioner, in effect, moved for leave to reargue the dismissal of the petition, and upon reargument, the court adhered to its original determination.
Upon reargument, the Surrogate’s Court should have found that the petitioner has standing to bring the petition. SCPA 1002(1) provides, in relevant part, that “a person interested in an action . . . in which the intestate . . . , if living, would be a proper party may present a petition to the court having jurisdiction praying for a decree granting letters of administration to him or to another person upon the estate of the intestate.” In this case, the decedent was named as a party in the actions in which appeals are pending before this Court, and the petitioner, as a defendant in those actions and an appellant before this Court, has an interest in those actions. Thus, pursuant to SCPA 1002(1), the petitioner has standing to petition the Surrogate’s Court for the appointment of an administrator for the decedent’s estate. Matter of Quinn, 2018 NY Slip Op 07433, Second Dept 11-7-18
TRUSTS AND ESTATES (PETITIONER WAS A PARTY ALONG WITH DECEDENT IN SEVERAL ACTIONS WHICH RESULTED IN PENDING APPEALS, PETITIONER THEREFORE HAD STANDING TO SEEK THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF THE DECEDENT, SURROGATE’S COURT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (TRUSTS AND ESTATES, PETITIONER WAS A PARTY ALONG WITH DECEDENT IN SEVERAL ACTIONS WHICH RESULTED IN PENDING APPEALS, PETITIONER THEREFORE HAD STANDING TO SEEK THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF THE DECEDENT, SURROGATE’S COURT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT))/APPEALS (TRUSTS AND ESTATES, CIVIL PROCEDURE, (PETITIONER WAS A PARTY ALONG WITH DECEDENT IN SEVERAL ACTIONS WHICH RESULTED IN PENDING APPEALS, PETITIONER THEREFORE HAD STANDING TO SEEK THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF THE DECEDENT, SURROGATE’S COURT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT))/SURROGATE’S COURT PROCEDURE ACT (SPCA) (PETITIONER WAS A PARTY ALONG WITH DECEDENT IN SEVERAL ACTIONS WHICH RESULTED IN PENDING APPEALS, PETITIONER THEREFORE HAD STANDING TO SEEK THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF THE DECEDENT, SURROGATE’S COURT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT))/CPLR 1015 (TRUSTS AND ESTATES, PETITIONER WAS A PARTY ALONG WITH DECEDENT IN SEVERAL ACTIONS WHICH RESULTED IN PENDING APPEALS, PETITIONER THEREFORE HAD STANDING TO SEEK THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF THE DECEDENT, SURROGATE’S COURT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT))
