In the Matter of the Application of Charles A. Runk, as Substituted Trustee Under the Will of Annie Joy, Deceased…

Summary

The Court held that New York Surrogate's Courts have jurisdiction to entertain and compel the judicial settlement of accounts of trustees appointed by the Supreme Court as successors to testamentary trustees, and that a peremptory writ of mandamus is the proper remedy to enforce that right. Accordingly, the lower courts' orders denying the petition for accounting and the writ were reversed. The decision rests on statutory construction of the Civil Procedure Code and the New York Constitution. The Court also suggested legislative amendment to harmonize compensation provisions.