Morrison Cohen Secures Appellate Victory Upholding $20 Million Trust

On January 29, 2026, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed two orders of the New York County Surrogate’s Court, ruling in favor of Morrison Cohen’s client and rejecting efforts to vacate a waiver and consent to probate and to set aside a revocable trust. Partner Christopher Milito, who argued the appeal, had previously defeated a Surrogate’s Court challenge to the same testamentary plan alleging fraud, incapacity and undue influence.

The appeal arose from a probate proceeding involving the June 12, 2015 will and revocable trust of Stanley Walker. The petitioner, Walker’s sibling, sought to challenge both instruments despite having executed a waiver and consent to probate years earlier, alleging fraud and lack of testamentary capacity.

The First Department agreed with the Surrogate’s Court that the petitioner lacked standing to contest the will or trust because she had no interest in any prior will or version of the trust. The Court further noted that both instruments expressly disinherited the petitioner and her children, confirming that “the will and the trust both stated that decedent intentionally made no provision for petitioner, his sibling, or any of her children because he had no meaningful relationship with them.”

In rejecting the fraud claim, the Court held that petitioner failed to present clear and convincing evidence that her waiver and consent were improperly obtained. Although she alleged misrepresentations regarding the size of the estate and the decedent’s capacity, the Court emphasized that any reliance was unreasonable, observing that petitioner herself admitted the decedent was a highly successful businessman with substantial assets. As the Court explained, “Any reliance by petitioner on the alleged misrepresentations was not reasonable under the circumstances.”

The Court also dismissed petitioner’s incapacity claims, noting that her own papers acknowledged she “had not seen or spoken with decedent in decades prior to his death,” while the attestation clause and witness affidavits created a presumption that the decedent “was of sound mind, memory, and understanding.” The Court further affirmed the denial of petitioner’s motion for renewal, finding that she “cited no new facts… that would change the prior determination.”

The unanimous affirmance leaves intact the probate decree and trust administration, conclusively securing Morrison Cohen’s client’s rights under the will and revocable trust.