Petition for Estate Accounting Filed After Five Years is Dismissed on Basis of Laches

• Friday, August 22, 2014
• Category: Wills, Trusts and Estate Litigation

In the estate administration and estate litigation case of I/M/O Estate of Klausnar, 38-2-4353, App. Div., the Plaintiff, the nephew of the deceased and a beneficiary under his will, appeals the dismissal of his action seeking an estate accounting and his share of the estate. The panel affirmed substantially for the reasons expressed below. It found that where plaintiff waited five years to file this action, after being advised by the executor that he would not receive a distribution in light of his alleged misappropriations of funds during and shortly after the deceased’s death in an amount roughly equivalent to his share of the estate, he had signed a release and refunding bond, and the executor, who resides in California and has significant health issues, has destroyed the estate documents believing all issues to have been resolved, the judge did not err in dismissing the action on the basis of laches.

Reference: Case & Analysis, New Jersey Law Journal 216 N.J.L.J. 927 (June 30, 2014)

Filed Under: Estate Administration; Estate Litigation; Trust & Estates

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