Legal Opinion
Matter of Duke
New York Court of Appeals
Decided January 11, 1996PublishedCited by 40 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
Titone, J.
On October 28, 1993, Doris Duke died, leaving an estate valued at over $1 billion. 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 coexecutor of her estate. Exercising discretionary authority granted solely to him in the will, Lafferty selected United States Trust as the corporate coexecutor. 1
The dispute before this Court concerns the propriety of the Surrogate’s summary removal of both coexecutors for misconduct pursuant to SCPA 719. While…
2Cases cited13 opinions
- In Re Proving the Will of LelandNew York Court of Appeals · 1916
- Stolz v. New York Central RailroadNew York Court of Appeals · 1959
- In re the Estate of IsraelNew York Surrogate's Court · 1970
- In Re the Accounting of FinnNew York Court of Appeals · 1933
- In re the Estate of VermilyeAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1984
8 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by40 opinions
- In re Estate of PalmaAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 2007
- In re the Estate of CollinsAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 2007
- In re the Estate of CampagnaAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1999
- Matter of BerlinAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 2016
- Matter of KaufmanAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 2016
35 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.