Question
Your Uncle Vito recently died. He lived in his house in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and always said you were his favorite relative,
Your Uncle Vito recently died. He lived in his house in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and always said you were his favorite relative, even more like a child to him, since he never had children. He very much appreciated your visits as he got older, especially after his wife, Hortense, abruptly left him and moved to California in 2008. Hortense still lives in California, but she and Vito have not spoken for years. Just before he died, Uncle Vito told you that his only significant assets were: (i) the home in Riverdale; (ii) a life insurance policy; (iii) a bank account at Citibank; (iv) U.S. savings bonds valued at approximately $50,000. He gave you a set of keys and told you that, upon his death, you should go to his home and open a locked strong box he kept in his hall closet. You open it and find the following:
A. His will, dated January 31, 2006. Under the will, all his property, except that placed into a trust, was to pass to Hortense.
B. A codicil to his will, dated January 31, 2009. Under the codicil, all of his property passes to Hortense, except: (i) property placed into a trust; and (ii) the house in Riverdale which he devises to you.
C. Under a trust to be established pursuant to his codicil, $50,000 is to be placed with Citibank as trustee with the income to be used to pay tuition for underprivileged students at Uncle Vito's alma mater, Rice High School in Manhattan. You make inquiries and learn that Rice High School closed in 2019 and that the majority of its students transferred to All Hallows High School in the Bronx.
D. The deed for Uncle Vito's Riverdale home, which states that the property was transferred to Hortense and Vito, "as tenants by the entirety."
E. U.S. Savings Bonds with a value of approximately $55,000.00.
F. An insurance policy naming you as sole beneficiary in the amount of $100,000.
G. Citibank statements for an account in the amount of $75,000, in the name of Uncle Vito "in trust for" you.
Discuss what rights, if any, you and Hortense may have with regard to Uncle Vito's property, set forth above, as of the time of his death.
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