The Manhattan Surrogate’s Court judge presiding over the Hugeutte Clark estate recently removed the two executors Ms. Clark had appointed in her will after allegations of misconduct and fraud arose. Surrogate Kristen Booth Glen removed the men after attorneys for the Office of the Public Administrator of New York County presented evidence that the two men had made numerous actions that violated their fiduciary duty.
The executors, attorney Wally Bock and accountant Irving Kamsler, had purportedly failed to pay income and gift taxes for years. The total for the fines, penalties and unpaid taxes could end up costing the estate $90 million, a sizable share of the estimated $400 million the estate is worth. Prior to the revelations, Surrogate Glen had appointed a county office to act as a third estate administrator. The investigation conducted by the office revealed that the two executors had engaged in misconduct over the course of their handling of the estate. In addition, they engaged in misconduct when they managed Ms. Clark’s affairs.
Ms. Clark died in May, and her estate has seen several dramatic legal revelations. With the removal of the two executors, it now falls to the attorneys working for the administrator’s office to manage the estate. The former executors, had they not been removed, stood to earn about $8 million each for their work.
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