Surrogate's Court Jurisdiction Over Title Disputes
The Surrogate’s Court lacks jurisdiction
over a title dispute that arose between a life tenant devisee and a remainder
devisee. Matter of the Last
Will and Testament of Escobar,
Kings County Surr. Ct. #
3280/2001/A (Lopez-Torres, J.) (reported in the NYLJ 2/11/14).
The decedent’s will left the real estate
to her nephew for his life, provided he lived in the house until his death. At
that time, the property was to be sold and the proceeds divided between two
charities. The executor
transferred the property to the nephew for his life, with the remainder to the
charities. Following the nephew’s apparent removal to Florida and sufferance of
waste on the property, the charities petitioned for an order vesting their
remainder interests.
The
Surrogate’s Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the “controversy
in no way affects the affairs of the decedent or the administration of her
estate. Rather, it relates to an independent matter involving a controversy
between living parties or entities.” The Court reasoned that even if the life
estate were terminated, the property would not revert to the estate nor would
the Surrogate's Court be required to determine how the property would be
distributed.
Comment:
The
opinion is silent as to whether the residency condition was included in the
executor’s deed. Yet the Court places great weight on the fact that the property
“clearly passed from the estate to the life tenant.” The Court holds that “the
matter in controversy relates to the determination of whether the life tenant
has repudiated his obligation on property which was deeded to him as a life
tenant.” As such, the Court need not determine if a breach of the residency
condition contained in the devise has occurred.