Surrogate Mella
ESTATE OF HENRY LUI, Deceased (16-4311/A/B/C) — The court grants this unopposed petition by the administrator of the estate of decedent Henry Lui to account for the award by the September 11th Victim’s Compensation Fund (the “VCF,” as authorized by Pub L 111-347,124 Stat 3623 [2011], and further authorized by Pub L 116-34,133 Stat 1040 [2019] [the "9/11 Acts"]).1 Decedent was in the “exposure zone” as defined by the 9/11 Acts. He subsequently died on October 2, 2016. The petitioning administrator is decedent’s spouse, and she waives claims for statutory commissions. The award includes amounts for the funeral that are to be paid to the funeral creditor. Another creditor is also to be paid. There are no other claims. The award provided funds for decedent’s non-economic losses, that is, not for pecuniary losses (as in wrongful death causes of action), and thus the proceeds are appropriately allocated to decedent’s conscious pain and suffering, passing through his estate in intestacy. The administrator seeks to distribute the net proceeds, after payment of attorneys fees (at a reduced contingency rate of 10 percent in accordance with the 9/11 Acts) to decedent’s distributees. There is no opposition. The attorneys fees are fixed and determined as requested in the petition. No disbursements of counsel are sought to be recouped in this matter. The account is settled. The restrictions on the letters issued by this court are removed, and the administrator is authorized to collect the award and to execute such receipts and releases as may be required. The net proceeds of the award shall be distributed to decedent’s distributees (see EPTL 4-1.1). Decree settling the administrator’s account signed. Dated: January 9, 2020
