Case Name: In the Matter of the Application for Ancillary Letters Testamentary on the Will of Rebecca T. R. Gay, Deceased. Anna Von Wernstedt et al., Appellants; Benjamin E. Harwood, Respondent
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1919-11-18
Citations: 227 N.Y. 607
Docket Number: 
Parties: In the Matter of the Application for Ancillary Letters Testamentary on the Will of Rebecca T. R. Gay, Deceased. Anna Von Wernstedt et al., Appellants; Benjamin E. Harwood, Respondent.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 227
Pages: 607–608

Head Matter:
In the Matter of the Application for Ancillary Letters Testamentary on the Will of Rebecca T. R. Gay, Deceased. Anna Von Wernstedt et al., Appellants; Benjamin E. Harwood, Respondent.
Matter of Gay (Will),, 188 App. Div. 918, affirmed.
(Argued October 6, 1919;
decided November 18, 1919.)
Appeal, by permission, from an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered May 23, 1919, which affirmed a decree of the New York County Surrogate’s Court granting ancillary letters testamentary upon the will of Rebecca T. R. Gay, deceased. The petitioner alleged that he is a citizen of the United States domiciled in Connecticut; that the deceased died in France, leaving a will, which was duly established in accordance with the laws of France, and in which he is named as universal legatee, and that under the law of France he is entitled to take into Ms' possession the personal property of the deceased wherever situated. He further alleged that the deceased left personal property in New York county. Subsequently to the filing of the petition for ancillary letters Anna Yon -Wernstedt, one of the next of Mn of the deceased, made application for permission to intervene in the proceeding, and filed objections to the jurisdiction of the Surrogate’s Court to grant ancillary letters on the estate of the deceased. She also asked that the court require the petitioner to commence do nova proceedings to probate the will of the deceased in tMs state. The surrogate held that from an examination of the French Code and the record of the proceeding before the Civil Tribunal of Nice, the will of the testatrix was “ established ” before that tribunal witMn the sensible and real meaning of the requirement of section 2629, Code of Civil Procedure, and that the umversal legatee, to whom “ envoi en' possession ” was granted by that court, is justly entitled to receive ancillary letters.
George L. Ingraham and Julian M. Wright for appellants.
Francis M. Scott, Bertram L. Marks, Julian A. Gregory. and Allen S. Wrenn for respondent.

Opinion:
Order affirmed, with costs; no opinion.
Concur: Hiscock, Ch. J., Chase, Collin, Pound, McLaughlin and Crane, JJ. Absent: Hogan, J.