ESTATE OF JUAN ANTONIO MENDEZ ROJAS, Deceased (13/1247/B) — In this SCPA 2103 proceeding, the limited administrator, Norma Chavez, a daughter of the decedent, moves by Order to Show Cause dated August 23, 2016, to enforce an out of court agreement dated April 10, 2014 (2014 agreement), for an order, inter alia: (i) directing Maria Rawlins, an alleged home aid to the decedent, the respondent on this motion and a respondent in the SCPA 2103 proceeding, to account for the proceeds of the sale of a “restrained” cooperative unit (the coop) located at 75 West 238th St., Apt. 5B, Bronx, NY, 10463, within ten (10) days; (ii) directing the respondent to deposit “all the net proceeds of the sale of co-op with the court, or as otherwise directed,” within ten (10) days; (iii) the failure respondent to account “shall result in an account stated for the full proceeds of sale in the amount” of $228,000.00; (iv) directing that the respondent be restrained from disposing, transferring or encumbering the net proceeds of the sale of the coop; (v) directing the respondent to deposit the net proceeds of the coop sale, and deposit the additional sum of $7,451.59, in escrow (as an alleged outstanding amount never deposited into escrow) required to have been deposited in escrow by the 2014 agreement between the movant and the respondent, or to show proof that the same has already been deposited, within 10 days; (vi) directing the production of bank statements for the escrow account created under the 2014 agreement; and, (vii) directing the respondent to identify the attorney retained by her for the sale of the coop. Pending the hearing and determination of the motion the respondent was restrained from disposing, transferring or encumbering the net proceeds of the sale of the coop.
The decedent died intestate on December 20, 2012. The decedent’s distributees are a surviving spouse, Carolina Bonola, who filed a right of election, and six children, including the limited administrator. During his lifetime in 1997, the decedent sustained injuries and in 2007 he received settlement proceeds, which funds are alleged to be part of his estate and, accordingly, form part of the litigation between the movant, the respondent and, indirectly, relate the right of election claim by the decedent’s surviving spouse. The movant and the respondent appear to concede that, due to the decedent’s physical and mental condition after the accident, the respondent was employed as the decedent’s home care aide from 2002 through approximately 2007. Due to her own accident in 2007, the respondent left her position as a home care aide; however, she continued to assist decedent thereafter until the decedent’s death. It is disputed whether the respondent had daily or part-time contact with decedent after 2007, and the nature and extent of the assistance she provided to the decedent. Also disputed is, inter alia, whether the decedent voluntarily, and with the proper mental capacity, gifted the respondent $150,000, added her name to a bank account and added her name as the beneficiary of the decedent’s annuity policy.
