IN THE MATTER OF DORIS DUKE, DECEASED.
BERNARD LAFFERTY, ET AL., PRELIMINARY CO-EXECUTORS-APPELLANTS, ALEXANDER D.
FORGER, ET AL., TEMPORARY ADMINISTRATORS- RESPONDENTS. / ANN BOSTICH, ET AL.,
BENEFICIARIES, HARRY B. DEMOPOULOS, M.D., RESPONDENT, DENNIS C. VACCO,
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, &C.
87 N.Y.2d 465, 663 N.E.2d 602, 640 N.Y.S.2d 446 (1996).
January 11, 1996
1 No. 330 (1996 NY Int. 4)
Decided January 11, 1996
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This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
Thomas D. Barr, for Appellant United States Trust Co.
Herbert J. Stern, for Appellant Lafferty.
John H. Carley, for Respondent Attorney General.
Daniel F. Kolb, for Respondent Morgan Guaranty Trust.
Russell E. Brooks, for Respondent Forger.
Rodney Houghton, for Respondent Demopoulos.
Raymond J. Dowd, for Beneficiaries.
Titone, J.:
On October 28, 1993, Doris Duke died, leaving an estate valued at
over one billion dollars. Duke bequeathed a large portion of her
estate to charity. Bernard Lafferty, described as her assistant and
confidant, was named in Duke's will as the lone individual co-executor
of her estate. Exercising discretionary authority granted solely to
him in the will, Lafferty selected U.S. Trust as the corporate
co-executor.(n 1)
The dispute before this Court concerns the propriety of the
Surrogate's summary removal of both co-executors for misconduct
pursuant to Surrogate's Court Procedure Act (SCPA) § 719. While
section 719 grants a Surrogate the authority to summarily remove
fiduciaries, we conclude that the Surrogate abused her discretion by
removing these executors without affording them a hearing under the
unique circumstances of this case.
I.
On November 1, 1993, U.S. Trust and Lafferty filed a petition for
probate of Doris Duke's will and were issued preliminary letters
SNIPPETS:
IN THE MATTER OF DORIS DUKE,
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York
Thomas D. Barr, for Appellant United States Trust Co. Herbert J. Stern, for Appellant
John H. Carley, for Respondent Attorney General.
for Respondent Morgan Guaranty Trust.
Rodney Houghton, for Respondent Demopoulos.
Raymond J. Dowd, for Beneficiaries.
On October 28, 1993, Doris Duke died, leaving an estate valued at over one billion dollars.
Bernard Lafferty, described as her assistant and confidant, was named in Duke's will as the
The dispute before this Court concerns the propriety of the Surrogate's summary removal of
While section 719 grants a Surrogate the authority to summarily remove fiduciaries, we
Because of the magnitude of the estate and the seriousness of the allegations, the Surrogate
The Surrogate also advised the parties that Kuh "is not going to be a fact-finder" and noted
The Surrogate replaced Lafferty and U.S. Trust with Alexander D. Forger, an attorney, and
Although the majority rejected the Surrogate's characterization of the facts on which she
The Surrogate may remove without a hearing only where the misconduct is established by
Turning first to the procedures employed by the Surrogate here, we preliminarily note that
the information contained in the Kuh report -- upon which the Surrogate primarily relied in
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