You are here: / / PLAINTIFFS HAD STANDING TO CHALLENGE THE TRUST SET UP BY DECEDENT; PLAINITIFFS...
, ,

PLAINTIFFS HAD STANDING TO CHALLENGE THE TRUST SET UP BY DECEDENT; PLAINITIFFS DID NOT STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR FRAUD BECAUSE IT WAS ALLEGED THE DECEDENT (A THIRD PARTY), NOT THE PLAINTIFFS, RELIED ON THE ALLEGEDLY FALSE STATEMENT; THE COMPLAINT STATED A CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGING DEFENDANTS EXERCISED UNDUE INFLUENCE OVER THE DECEDENT WHICH AFFECTED THE DECEDENT’S ESTATE-RELATED DECISIONS (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined: (1) the complaint did not state a cause of action for fraud because it was alleged a third-party (the decedent), not plaintiffs, relied upon the alleged false statement; (2) the complaint stated a cause of action for “undue influence” on the decedent by the defendants; and (3), the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the validity of the trust set up by the decedent. It was alleged that the decedent made decisions about the disposition of his assets based upon the false assertion that his daughter-in-law killed his son:

Here, as the grandchildren were given specific bequests in decedent’s … last will and testament, and the instrument creating the trust … reserved to decedent a limited power of appointment to name his grandchildren as possible beneficiaries of trust assets upon his death, the grandchildren are interested persons within the meaning of the SCPA, so plaintiffs have capacity to challenge the validity of the trust … . …

… [P]laintiffs cannot state a cause of action for fraud because the Court of Appeals has expressly declined “to extend the reliance element of fraud to include a claim based on the reliance of a third party” … . … As to plaintiffs’ cause of action asserting undue influence, plaintiffs’ broadly-stated theory is that, upon the death of the deceased son, the previously absent defendants drove a wedge between the daughter-in-law and decedent, took control of decedent’s caretaking as he aged and grew infirm and then moved him into defendants’ home where decedent created the trust and conveyed into it his assets to benefit defendants and the son upon his death. … [A]ffording the plaintiffs the benefit of every favorable inference … , we find that such allegations are enough to assert a cause of action for undue influence … . Constantine v Lutz, 2022 NY Slip Op 02842, Third Dept 4-28-22

Practice Point: To state a cause of action for fraud, it must be alleged the plaintiff(s), not a third party (the decedent in this case), relied on the alleged false statement. Here plaintiffs alleged the decedent made estate-related decisions based upon the false statement that his daughter-in-law killed his son. Because of the absence of the “reliance” element of fraud, that cause of action was properly dismissed.

 

You might also like
RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF THE FORECLOSURE ABUSE PREVENTION ACT (FAPA) WHERE FINAL JUDGMENT HAS NOT BEEN RENDERED DOES NOT VIOLATE PLAINTIFF’S DUE PROCESS RIGHTS; HERE THE DEBT WAS ACCELERATED IN 2008 AND THE CURRENT FORECLOSURE PROCEEDING IS THEREFORE UNTIMELY PURSUANT TO THE FAPA (THIRD DEPT). ​
RECORD DID NOT SUPPORT DENIAL OF SPECIAL USE PERMIT, ZONING BOARD IMPROPERLY BOWED TO THE OBJECTIONS BY TWO NEIGHBORS.
Slip and Fall in Employee Parking Area Was Compensable
COUNTY COURT JUDGE DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO ISSUE A VERDICT BASED UPON THE REVIEW OF THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIOR NON-JURY TRIAL WHICH HAD BEEN HELD BEFORE A DIFFERENT JUDGE AND REVERSED 3RD DEPT.
THE MAJORITY AFFIRMED DEFENDANT’S DRIVING-RELATED RECKLESS-ENDANGERMENT-FIRST-DEGREE CONVICTION STEMMING FROM HIS STRIKING SEVERAL CARS, CAUSING ONE TO FLIP, AND CRASHING INTO A HOUSE; TWO DISSENTERS ARGUED THE PROOF DID NOT SUPPORT THE “DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE” ELEMENT OF THE OFFENSE (THIRD DEPT). ​
Doctrine of Judicial Estoppel Precluded Plaintiff from Taking a Position Contrary to the Position Plaintiff Took In Two Prior Successful Actions
EMPLOYEE’S ESTATE ENTITLED TO THE AMOUNT OF THE SCHEDULE LOSS OF USE AWARD THAT ACCRUED UP UNTIL THE EMPLOYEE’S DEATH, NOT THE ENTIRE SLU AWARD (THIRD DEPT).
Criteria for Grant of Visitation to Grandparent When Both Parents Alive

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

THE MODIFICATION OF THE GUARDIANSHIP ORDER MUST BE IN THE BESTS INTEREST OF... STAFFING COMPANY WHICH SCREENED JOB APPLICANTS FOR ITS CLIENTS WAS NOT AN EMPLOYER...