Tara E Mahon

November 03, 2024 | New York Law Journal

"In New York, although a practitioner might expect the Surrogate's Courts to act uniformly as part of the New York State Unified Court System, Surrogate's Courts in various counties may operate differently when assessing petitions. One example is with respect to restrictions placed on letters of administration. While under-restricting letters of administration may result in inadequate safeguards on the interests of non-consenting distributees, over-restricting letters could result in (i) a hindrance of a fiduciary's powers statutorily granted under EPTL §11–1.1, (ii) an unnecessary burden on the court's limited resources caused by additional applications to remove the restrictions, (iii) delayed administration of estates, and (iv) conflicts with the legislative intent as expressed in the Bennett commission."

By Hon. C. Raymond Radigan (ret.), Tara E. Mahon, Esq., and Larry S. Wolfson

10 minute read

July 03, 2024 | New York Law Journal

A fiduciary of an estate must carefully balance his or her responsibilities to creditors of the decedent and to beneficiaries of the estate. A fiduciary "must act in good faith in the treatment of both" creditors and beneficiaries.

By C. Raymond Radigan and Tara E. Mahon

5 minute read

March 01, 2024 | New York Law Journal

A fiduciary does not have automatic authority under EPTL §11-1.1 to continue a business of a decedent, incur obligations and thus render the estate liable. However, courts have stated that a fiduciary has an inherent authority to temporarily continue a business for the limited exceptions of converting business assets to cash for the benefit of the estate.

By C. Raymond Radigan and Tara E. Mahon

8 minute read