In re the Estate of Palma

Appeal from an order of the Surrogate’s Court of Schenectady County (Kramer, S.), entered October 24, 2003, which granted petitioners’ motion for authorization to compromise an account pursuant to SCPA 1813.

The record indicates that, for over 50 years, decedent and his wife, Filomena Palma (hereinafter collectively referred to as the Palmas), successfully operated various businesses individually and through corporate entities. During that time period, the Palmas’ accountant and bookkeepers maintained in their work papers an internal account, labeled by one of the bookkeepers in the 1940s as a…