In re Carbone
The petitioner, Mike Carbone, was named in the decedent‘s will as executor of the decedent‘s estate. After the decedent died, his primary beneficiaries, his daughters Debra Betz and Christina Carbone-Lopez, sought an accounting from Carbone. Carbone failed to provide an accounting until after he was held in contempt by the Surrogate‘s Court. When Carbone finally filed an intermediate account of the estate, along with a petition to judicially settle the account, Betz and Carbone-Lopez filed objections to the account, asserting that it was incomplete and inaccurate. The court agreed, and directed Carbone to file an amended account.
Carbone filed an addendum to his account, but Betz and Carbone-Lopez again filed objections, asserting that the
Moreover, because the Surrogate‘s Court “is governed by principles of equity as well as of law, [it] is not prevented by any legal restriction from doing exact justice to any of the parties” (Matter of Schummers, 210 App Div 296, 300 [1924], affd 243 NY 548 [1926]).
A fiduciary acting on behalf of an estate is required to employ such diligence and prudence to the care and management of the estate assets and affairs as would prudent persons of discretion and intelligence (see King v Talbot, 40 NY 76, 85-86 [1869]), accented by “‘[n]ot honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive‘” (Matter of Rothko, 43 NY2d 305, 320 [1977], quoting Meinhard v Salmon, 249 NY 458, 464 [1928]; see Matter of Skelly, 284 AD2d 336 [2001]; Matter of Robinson, 282 AD2d 607 [2001]; Matter of Scott, 234 AD2d 551, 552 [1996]). Where the beneficiary of an estate has demanded an accounting, “the party submitting the account has the burden of proving that he or she has fully accounted for all the assets of the estate, and this evidentiary burden does not change in the event the account is contested. While the party submitting objections bears the burden of coming forward with evidence to establish that the account is inaccurate or incomplete, upon satisfaction of that showing the accounting party must prove, by a
Here, Betz satisfied her prima facie burden of demonstrating that Carbone‘s account was inaccurate or incomplete, and Carbone failed to rebut that showing. Moreover, because the legitimacy of most, if not all, of Betz‘s objections was apparent from a plain reading of the account, no factual issues were presented which would necessitate the conducting of a hearing (see Matter of Schnare, 191 AD2d at 860-861). In any event, “[a]s the [executor] of decedent‘s estate, it was incumbent upon petitioner to maintain ‘clear and accurate records,’ absent which ‘all presumptions . . . and all doubts are to be resolved adversely to [him]‘” (Matter of Mink, 91 AD3d at 1063-1064, quoting Matter of Camarda, 63 AD2d 837, 837 [1978]). Similarly, the record contains ample proof to support the Surrogate Court‘s determination that Carbone wasted the estate‘s assets, improperly omitted assets from his account, and engaged in impermissible self-dealing (see e.g. Greene v Greene, 92 AD3d 838, 839 [2012]; Ross v Ross Metals Corp., 87 AD3d 573, 575 [2011]; Matter of Passuello, 184 AD2d 108, 112-113 [1992]; Matter of Etoll, 101 AD2d at 936; Matter of Moschak, 48 Misc 2d 838, 838-839 [1966]). Since Carbone failed to raise a triable issue of fact in opposition to Betz‘s summary judgment motion, the Surrogate‘s Court properly granted the subject branches of Betz‘s motion.
Since Carbone failed to proffer a reasonable explanation for failing to submit his additional evidence in opposition to Betz‘s moving papers, the Surrogate‘s Court providently exercised its discretion in denying that branch of his motion which was for leave to renew his opposition to Betz‘s summary judgment motion (see
Carbone‘s remaining contentions are without merit. Skelos, J.P., Florio, Leventhal and Hall, JJ., concur.