New York Court of Appeals
In the Matter of Doris Duke, Deceased. Bernard Lafferty, as Preliminary Coexecutors of Doris Duke…
January 11, 199687 N.Y.2d 465
Summary
The New York Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division and remanded the case, holding that the Surrogate Court abused its discretion by summarily removing the coexecutors under SCPA 719 without affording them a hearing where the alleged misconduct was contested. The Court clarified that summary removal is permissible only when the facts are undisputed or conceded, requiring a hearing when factual disputes exist.