ADDITIONAL CASES Guardianship of Crystal C., infant; 2021-982/A In these contested proceedings, the decedent’s mother, Carmen Villaman (“Ms. Villaman”), filed a petition seeking limited letters of administration in order to prosecute causes of action arising from the decedent’s death. Thereafter, the decedent’s father, Joshua Cruz (“Mr. Cruz”), filed objections to the mother’s petition and a cross petition also seeking limited letters of administration. Separate guardianship applications were filed concerning an infant alleged to be the decedent’s daughter and sole distributee. The infant’s mother, with whom the infant resides, filed a petition seeking letters of property guardianship and Mr. Cruz filed a cross petition seeking letters of property guardianship, objections to which were filed by Ms. Villaman. Thereafter the infant’s mother withdrew her petition for guardianship of the property and filed a consent to Mr. Cruz’s cross petition. An order dated September 17, 2021 awarded Mr. Cruz temporary letters of property guardianship limited to participating on the infant’s behalf in the administration proceeding. Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation dated December 7, 2021, Ms. Villaman was granted temporary letters of administration for the purposes of commencing a cause of action on behalf of the decedent’s estate. The parties appeared on the court’s virtual platform on January 13, 2022 and consented to a DNA test to determine the paternity of the infant. The results confirmed that Mr. Cruz is the grandfather of Crystal C. and the infant is therefore the child of the decedent. The decedent’s parents each settled a decree and counter decree seeking to be awarded letters of guardianship of the property of the infant and limited letters of administration in the decedent’s estate. In his objections to Ms. Villaman’s administration petition, Mr. Cruz states that Crystal C., the decedent’s daughter, is the decedent’s sole distributee and therefore, the infant’s property guardian has priority to serve as administrator of her deceased father’s estate. In the objections to Mr. Cruz’s guardianship application, Ms. Villaman alleges that the infant is not the decedent’s daughter, that Mr. Cruz is not the decedent’s father, paternity was never determined during the decedent’s lifetime, and if Crystal C. is determined to be the decedent’s daughter, Ms. Villaman is the only person entitled to receive letters of guardianship of the infant. The court may appoint a guardian of the property of an infant where the court determines it is in the best interest of the infant (see SCPA §1701). A petition for the appointment of a guardian of the property may be made by any person on behalf of the infant (see SCPA §1703). A guardian of the property of an infant shall protect, preserve and manage the property of the infant once appointed (SCPA §1723). Mr. Cruz seeks to be appointed as the guardian of the property of Crystal C. to obtain limited letters of administration for the purpose of commencing a cause of action in the decedent’s estate to which the infant is the sole distributee. Under these circumstances, given the fact that the results of the DNA test establish Mr. Cruz’s paternal relationship to the infant and the consent provided by the infant’s mother, the court finds that the best interests of the infant will be served by appointing a guardian of her property. As such, the guardianship application by Mr. Cruz is granted and Ms. Villaman’s objections to the guardianship of Crystal C. are hereby dismissed. The court further finds, that as the guardian of the property of the sole distributee of the decedent, Mr. Cruz has priority to serve as the administrator of the decedent’s estate (see SCPA §1001[2]). Accordingly, the administration petition of Ms. Villaman is hereby dismissed (File No. 2020-2323) and the relief requested in the cross petition of Mr. Cruz is granted (File No. 2020-2323/A). On this state of the record, this decision constitutes the order of the court granting Mr. Cruz’s cross petition for guardianship of the property of Crystal C. (2021-982/A). The infant’s mother’s petition for letters of property guardianship is hereby marked “withdrawn.” The petition filed by Ms. Villaman seeking letters of administration (File No.: 2020-2323), her objections to the cross petition of Mr. Cruz seeking letters of administration (2020-2323/A), as well as her objections in his cross petition seeking letters of property guardianship (2021-982/A) are dismissed. Letters of administration shall issue to Joshua Cruz limited pursuant to SCPA 702 (1) with regard to any cause of action. The temporary letters that issued to Carmen Villaman are hereby revoked. Decrees signed.
