Surrogate Edward McCarty III
Brewer’s guardian ad litem (GAL) sought to unseal Family Court records in a criminal proceeding relating to Brewer. Brewer drowned her two five year old sons. The boys’ father commenced a wrongful death action against Nassau County. The suit was settled for $250,000. The father sought to compromise the wrongful death action and settle his account. He requested that Brewer be held to have forfeited her interest in the children’s estates based on the doctrine of Riggs v. Palmerthat a wrongdoer should not profit from her own wrong. Brewer pleaded not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect and was held in civil confinement. The GAL sought the records to assess petitioner’s application to disqualify Brewer as distributee. The court noted while the records sought by the GAL were relevant to the issue of her ward’s forfeiture, and were material and necessary to the forfeiture of Brewer’s interest in her children’s estate, it ruled the application must be made to the family court stating this court was not a court superior to the family court. Thus, it granted the GAL permission to apply to the family court to unseal the records, and if granted, the documents would be subject to in camera review by this court.
