Hodgson Russ Attorneys Obtain Favorable Ruling for Client in Estate Battle

Hodgson Russ LLP successfully represented a client in challenging her sister/co-executor’s claim that three bank accounts in the name of their mother, now deceased, and the sister/co-executor were held as joint tenants with right of survivorship.  Our client asserted that the accounts were merely accounts of convenience that were assets of the estate. Prior to her death, our client’s mother established a Will where she divided her estate equally among her six children and appointed two of her daughters, our client and the claimant, as co-executors of her Will. Nearly a year after her mother’s passing, our client’s sister and co-executor filed a Petition for Probate, attempting to eliminate our client as co-executor and claiming the three bank accounts were estate assets. After filing the Petition for Probate, our client’s sister/co-executor then claimed she had “right of survivorship” to the three bank accounts and that, therefore, they should have been transferred to her upon her mother’s death. The Hodgson Russ attorney team argued that these accounts were convenience accounts, intended for ease of access rather than ownership transfer upon death, and were instead estate accounts. 

This case highlights Hodgson Russ LLP's commitment to ensuring the intention of the testator and the fair distribution of the assets are carried out.