Former Lawyer for Farrington Estates Settles Over Alleged “Wrongful Scheme”

June Farrington died in 2008 at age 84. She inherited her father’s hand-tool fortune, and left all of her assets to three charities when she died in a 1999 trust document. The charities realized that Stephen M. Newman, her estate lawyer had restructured the estate to eliminate the outright gifts to them. He created a perpetual charitable trust that he managed as co-trustee. The trust gave Newman commissions and contributed smaller amounts to charities.

The charities’ attorneys brought this to surrogate court, accusing Newman and Joan Morgante, a caretaker that Newman referred, of a “wrongful scheme.” In addition to the restructuring of the trust, the pair made a will for June’s surviving brother that named Morgante as the sole beneficiary of his estate.

The parties have reached a settlement recently – Newman will return $410,000 back to the estate and he has resigned as executor and trustee of all of the estates and trusts. The three charities will now receive the money in her trusts that was originally intended for them – transfers that total to $1.6 million. June’s 1999 trust document is considered the governing document and all documents the follow that one are invalid. Newman did not even have to admit to wrongdoing. Morgante signed the settlement agreement, but does not have to pay any money back to the estate. 

See Lawyer to Repay Farrington Estates, Estate of Denial, May 17, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.