In re Berry’s Estate
New York Surrogate Court
329 N.Y.S.2d 915 (1972)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
In March 1970, Margaret Berry executed a power of attorney designating her niece, Irene Montanye (defendant), as her agent. In that capacity, on April 30, 1970, Montanye transferred money from Berry’s bank account into a Totten trust in favor of Montanye’s mother, Anne Scully (defendant). Berry died in June 1971, leaving Scully as administratrix of Berry’s estate. Berry’s other heirs (heirs) (plaintiffs) petitioned the New York Surrogate Court to rescind the Totten trust on the grounds that, in setting up that trust, Montanye acted beyond the scope of her authority as Berry’s attorney. As a result of learning during discovery that Berry became comatose on April 29, 1970, the heirs moved to rescind the Totten trust on the grounds that Berry’s mental incapacity terminated the principal-agent relationship between Berry and Montanye before Montanye withdrew funds from Berry’s bank account.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Laurino, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
