Surrogate Edward McCarty III
Decedent's will divided the estate equally among her two daughters, Lopez and Wilson, whose daughter, Joosten, was the named executor. Accounts have been filed by Joosten, and Lopez's counsel conducted an examination under Surrogate's Court Procedure Act §2211 of Joosten. The court noted no objections to the accounts have been filed to date, and executor settled a decree on notice. Lopez's counsel filed an affirmation in opposition to the notice of settlement of Joosten's account, requesting it be dismissed to permit for proper completion of discovery under §2211, including 10 days for objections to be filed after discovery ended. Joosten's counsel argued objections to the account were due 10 days after Lopez's counsel conducted the §2211 exam. The court noted its custom was to require objections be filed within 10 days of the conclusion of the §2211 exam, but such date may be extended upon a reasonable cause showing. It noted, in addition to its consideration of extending the date by which to file objections for respondent's misunderstanding of the court's customary deadline, one more basis existed, finding Lopez was not given timely notice of all paid and unpaid legal fees, nor a chance to object to them.