In re Grancaric
Cases that cite this one
6 later published cases cite this decision.
- In re the Estate of Farrar (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
- SWEETMAN, ALICE ELAINE v. SUHR, SONJA G. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
- Sweetman v. Suhr (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
- Sweetman v. Suhr (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
- Matter of Najjar (Sanzone) (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2021)
- In re the Estate of Jacobs (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2012)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion of the Court
Petitioner failed to present any evidence raising a material issue of fact on the issue of whether decedent’s estate is entitled to these accounts. He relies on Maori’s admissions that the accounts were created for the convenience of Scheurer, in that they were designed to protect Scheurer’s assets, to establish that the accounts were convenience accounts and not valid joint accounts. This argument misconstrues the law. A bank account that is labeled as joint will nevertheless be held to remain the sole property of the depositor where it is found that the account
With regard to the Key Bank accounts, the presumption of survivorship rights does not arise because the signature cards for these accounts do not include survivorship language (see Matter of Timoshevich, 133 AD2d 1011, 1012 [1987]).
Turning to the real property at issue, we note that petitioner does not directly challenge Supreme Court’s holding that each parcel was conveyed to decedent and Macri as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, and he fails to submit any evidence
We find no need to invoke the doctrine of constructive trust in the context of this proceeding, where the property passed to Macri by operation of law, and Scheurer, the potential beneficiary of the constructive trust, has not objected to Macri’s ownership or alleged any breach of promise on the part of Macri. A constructive trust is a “ ‘fraud-rectifying’ ” remedy (Bankers Sec. Life Ins. Socy. v Shakerdge, 49 NY2d 939, 940 [1980]; see Oakes v Muka, 69 AD3d 1139, 1141-1142 [2010], appeal dismissed 15 NY3d 867 [2010]) which “may be imposed where a party, because of a confidential relationship, transfers property in reliance upon a promise of another which is later breached, resulting in unjust enrichment” (Sperrazza v Kail, 267 AD2d at 694 [emphasis added]). Here, although Macri and Scheurer testified at the trial that the transfers were structured as such to protect Scheurer’s assets from claims against the businesses that she owned, Macri continues to acknowledge that she holds the assets for Scheurer’s benefit. Under these circumstances, no constructive trust is necessary (compare Sharp v Kosmalski, 40 NY2d 119, 123 [1976]).
Petitioner’s remaining contentions are unpersuasive.
Malone Jr., Stein, McCarthy and Egan Jr., JJ., concur. Ordered that the order is affirmed, with one bill of costs.
. Only one signature card was provided in the record, but no dispute exists that each of the Key Bank accounts was set up identically.
. Notably, one of the deeds did not contain survivorship language but, given (1) the trial testimony establishing that this was the product of law office error, and (2) petitioner’s failure to address the issue on appeal, we find any objection based upon the absence of such language to be abandoned.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.