Case Name: In the Matter of the Estate of Dorothy K. Dearing, Also Known as Dorothy E. Knight, Deceased. Charles R. Dearing, Appellant; Edward I. Knight et al., Respondents
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1966-04-04
Citations: 25 A.D.2d 751
Docket Number: 
Parties: In the Matter of the Estate of Dorothy K. Dearing, Also Known as Dorothy E. Knight, Deceased. Charles R. Dearing, Appellant; Edward I. Knight et al., Respondents.
Judges: Beldoek, P. J., Ughetta, Brennan, Hopkins and Benjamin, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 25
Pages: 751–752

Head Matter:
In the Matter of the Estate of Dorothy K. Dearing, Also Known as Dorothy E. Knight, Deceased. Charles R. Dearing, Appellant; Edward I. Knight et al., Respondents.

Opinion:
In a discovery proceeding (Surrogate's Ct. Act, § 205), petitioner, as administrator of the decedent's estate, appeals from a decree of the Surrogate's Court, Westchester County, entered April 28, 1965 after trial, which determined that a certain savings bank account is the sole property of the individual respondent. Decree affirmed, with costs to the individual respondent, payable out of the estate. No facts were shown to overcome the presumption that decedent intended her brother, the named beneficiary of this " Totten trust " form of bank account, to receive the balance of the account. The trust was not illusory and was not disaffirmed (Matter of Halpern, 303 N. Y. 33).
Beldoek, P. J., Ughetta, Brennan, Hopkins and Benjamin, JJ., concur.