In re Estate of Mannara
New York Surrogate Court
5 Misc. 3d 556 (2004)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
Lydia Mannara executed a deathbed will devising her residuary estate to her “two nephews in trust for their education.” The will did not appoint a trustee, nor did it provide any instructions for the management of the assets. Mannara’s brother (plaintiff), as personal representative of her estate, argued that the will created two residuary trusts, one for the benefit of each nephew, and asked the court to imply additional provisions for the trusts. Specifically, the brother requested that the court find that he and another man were to serve as trustees, that the trustees were authorized to make discretionary expenditures for the beneficiaries’ education, and that each trust would terminate when its beneficiary reached age 22. Because the nephews were children, the court appointed a guardian ad litem (defendant) to represent their interests. The guardian ad litem argued that Mannara’s will had failed to create a valid trust and that the nephews should inherit Mannara’s assets directly.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Preminger, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 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.
