Surrogate Edward McCarty III
In a contested proceeding for issuance of letters of administration, decedent's putative surviving spouse moved to dismiss objections filed by decedent's daughters. The daughters alleged that decedent's prior marriage was never terminated, hence the marriage between petitioner and decedent was invalid. Objectants filed a marriage certificate, and separate document—"certificado de matrimonio"—from the Chilean Civil Registry and Identification Services, appearing to be the originals of photocopies previously submitted. The court stated that taking judicial notice of the definition of a key phrase on the face of each document—"visto bueno"—lead the court to conclude the documents were admissible. It also noted petitioner did not challenge the documents. Also, the court took judicial notice of the translation/definition of the Spanish phrase "visto bueno" in the legal context as "judicial or administrative terminology used to certify a document." Therefore, the court concluded as a material issue of fact was raised of whether petitioner was decedent's wife, the motion to dismiss the daughters' objections was denied.
