Sean Edward Cumming

On a contested passing of accounts, the court considered the compensation claimed by an estate trustee during litigation for administering a complex estate over several years involving extensive litigation, missing assets, and the unwinding of a corporate entity owned by the estate.

One charitable beneficiary objected to aspects of the trustee’s compensation, including the application of percentage fees on large capital transactions and the treatment of accounting fees.

The court accepted certain accounting adjustments and deductions but declined to reduce the trustee’s compensation in light of the extraordinary complexity of the estate administration and the significant recovery work undertaken.

A special fee was also awarded for the additional effort required to wind up the corporate estate asset.

The court further determined the outstanding legal fees payable to counsel for several charitable beneficiaries and ordered costs on the passing of accounts.

The court considered whether a former estate trustee who had previously been imprisoned for civil contempt had purged that contempt by accounting for missing estate assets.

Forensic accounting reports revealed extensive unexplained withdrawals, questionable transactions, and missing securities from an estate once valued at approximately $30 million.

The responding party failed to provide a full explanation for the disappearance of assets and demonstrated little effort to comply with prior court orders requiring disclosure.

Although the court concluded the contempt had not been purged, it determined that further imprisonment would not serve the public interest and that additional accounting would be futile.

The order requiring the passing of accounts was withdrawn and the contempt issue brought to an end.