Sunday, April 28, 2013

In re Estate of Filfiley case brief

In re Estate of Filfiley case brief
313 N.Y.S.2d 793

CASE SYNOPSIS:
Petitioner husband of decedent filed a notice of election to have taken against the decedent's will.
The Respondent executrix was a legatee under the will and had a joint bank account with the decedent.
The husband sought to have brought the joint account into the estate.

ISSUE:
The issue was what were the respective rights of the estate and the executrix.

FACTS:
The executrix withdrew a deposit from the bank account on the day before the decedent died and she redeposited it in an account in her own name.
The husband attempted to prove that the bank account was not a true joint tenancy account but rather a convenience account.

HOLDING:
The court held that there was a true joint tenancy in the bank account.

ANALYSIS:
The court further held that once the evidence could prove that the bank account was a true joint tenancy, then the law governing a joint tenancy became applicable.
Therefore, the executrix as the surviving joint tenant was entitled to the whole fund.
The executrix's withdrawal of the whole fund on the day before the death of the decedent was a nullity, necessarily so since more than a moiety was unilaterally inalienable by either joint tenant.

CONCLUSION:
The court held that the bank account was a true joint tenancy.
The executrix was entitled to the whole fund that she withdrew from the account because she was the surviving joint tenant.

---
Interested in learning how to get the top grades in your law school classes? Want to learn how to study smarter than your competition? Interested in transferring to a high ranked school?



-->

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Ins and Outs of Class Action Lawsuits: A Comprehensive Guide

Sometimes, you may buy a product only to find it defective. To make it worse, your search for the product reveals mass complaints. You can ...