Posts by Carly J. CazerAssociate
George Michael and Justices Kern, Friedman, Kapnick, Shulman, and Hagler agree on one thing: you gotta have faith. The real question is to whom that faith belongs.
For George Michael, the answer is yourself. Think twice before giving your heart away. Know the games being played. Do not let emotion take over.
New York law takes a different view when it comes to trustees. Trustees owe a duty of loyalty to the trust and its beneficiaries, not to their own interests. That duty is strict. Trustees cannot put their own interests ahead of the people they are supposed to serve.
When a trustee does not meet that standard, the consequences can be significant, including the possible loss of commissions. New York courts apply what is known as the “faithless servant” doctrine, which allows recovery of compensation paid during a period of disloyalty. The Chen case confirms that this principle applies in the trust context.
The case also shows that a trustee may have to return commissions even if the trust cannot point to a specific financial loss.
Blood may be thicker than water, but sewage – or at least the family business disposing of it – is thicker than both. The decedent in Matter of Bates owned the family septic tank business. Following her death, her children and grandchildren engaged in a trust contest to sit on the porcelain throne, i.e., control the company.
Any Passover Seder worth its salt includes the family’s youngest member reciting The Four Questions. The first of The Four Questions: “how is this night different from all other nights?” This Passover, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a decision about a family unlikely to celebrate together. The decedent in Carlson fell in love with his nurse. His daughter did not.
Taxes attributable to QTIP trust property included in a decedent’s taxable estate are apportioned to QTIP trust beneficiaries unless the decedent expresses a specific intent to the contrary.
The use of artificial intelligence to generate an expert opinion creates substantial risk that the opinion will be barred under the Frye standard. If an expert uses artificial intelligence despite the risk, the proponent of the testimony must disclose to the Court that the opinion was prepared using artificial intelligence and counsel must be prepared to prove that artificial intelligence has “gained general acceptance” in the applicable field at a Frye hearing.
Our inaugural post covers two recent decisions of the New York State Surrogate’s Court. The first decision holds that a trustee with “working control” over a trust-owned entity as an officer or general partner may have to account for actions taken in her corporate capacity. (Matter of Skoutelas, 2024 NY Slip Op 51508(U) [Queens Surrogate’s Court, November 8, 2024]).