Surrogate Edward McCarty III
Administrator de bonis non Young moved to dismiss the petition by two alleged creditors for revocation of his letters of administration. Young alleged he was decedent’s grandnephew. Rytvoc and Warock sought to revoke Young’s letters claiming they were the alleged owners of copyrights in various musical compositions owned by decedent, a songwriter. Petitioners claimed Young had no right to serve as administrator and the letters issued to him based on materially false information in the petition. Young claimed petitioners did not qualify as parties who may petition for revocation of letters under Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act §711. Petitioners claimed the court may entertain a revocation proceeding under §719 when a ground for revocation was brought to the court’s attention. The court agreed petitioners lacked standing under §711 at the time the petition was filed, however, the court noted, under the statutory framework, it was unclear if the proper person was administering this estate. Thus, based on the misstatement in Young’s petition, and other concerns, the court revoked his letters, issuing temporary letters of administration to the Public Administrator.
