Surrogate Mella ESTATE OF SYLVIA MAO TONG, Deceased (14-450/B) — Decedent Sylvia Mao Tong died intestate at age 86 on January 22, 2014. She was a widow, survived by two sons, petitioner Teddy Tong and respondent Eugene Tong, as her sole distributees. This proceeding concerns a brokerage account that decedent transferred from her own name to Eugene’s shortly before her death. Alleging undue influence, Teddy, as limited administrator, seeks the imposition of a constructive trust on the assets.
Background In 2007, Eugene moved to Seattle with his wife and children but he spent 50 or 60 percent of his time in New York, as required for his work in the field of information technology. When in New York, he stayed with his mother in her apartment. Teddy lived with his family in California where he had a medical practice. Teddy would visit his mother with his wife and two children once or twice a year. He stayed in close touch with her, calling her every morning before work, five times a week. Until the transaction at issue here, decedent’s assets consisted primarily of the brokerage account, worth approximately $490,000, and an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), worth approximately $600,000. The brokerage account had been titled in decedent’s name, payable on death to Country Network, a religious charity. The same charity was named as beneficiary of one-half the IRA, with Teddy and Eugene designated as beneficiaries of one-quarter each. In early December 2013, decedent transferred all the assets in her brokerage account into an account in Eugene’s name and changed the beneficiary of her entire IRA to Eugene alone. Approximately three weeks thereafter, on December 21, 2013, decedent fell to the floor in her apartment. She sustained severe injuries to her head, ribs, and leg, which led to her death four-and-a-half weeks later. Eugene was appointed administrator of his mother’s estate, and Teddy was granted limited letters of administration with authority to bring this proceeding. Teddy initially sought turnover of the brokerage account and the IRA. Eugene moved to dismiss Teddy’s petition. In a decision dated July 14, 2017, the court granted Eugene’s motion with respect to the IRA for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, without prejudice to bringing the proceeding in another forum. The court denied the motion with respect to the brokerage account, leaving for trial the question of whether the evidence warranted the imposition of a constructive trust. The court held a bench trial over two days, at which three witnesses testified for petitioner and three witnesses testified for respondent.
