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Pro Se Suing My Deceased Father

Location: New York 2d Dept

I’ll try to make this as simple as I can. My father was an attorney in NY who ran a private practice for decades. One of his later cases involved representing a wife in a divorce case that was highly contested. Long story short, terms were agreed to, and the matter was closed in 2020. My dad closed his office later that year and last year, my father passed away suddenly, and I am the Administrator of his estate. Earlier this year, the husband of the above-mentioned divorce apparently became unhappy with the outcome of the divorce action and sued pro se anyone and everyone that was involved with his case, including my dad personally and his Law Office (not his estate). His complaint is 100+ pages of nonsense alleging everything from fraud and IIED to RICO violations. It doesn’t even allege any independent misconduct against the Law Office.

Either way, after a battle with his malpractice insurance, I got them to cover hiring a law firm to defend. The judge dismissed all actions against my father in a decision that was about 3 sentences because you can’t sue the dead (Butler v. Russo). The plaintiff filed his notice to appeal with about 3 hours to spare in the 30 day timeline. Except for this action, I’d ready to close my father’s estate, which I can do as early as next week.

My questions are this: Can I close my father’s estate when there is no action against the estate? If not, do I risk leaving the door open for the plaintiff to sue the estate if I don’t have it closed by the probate court? Alternatively, is there a way to expedite the appellate process since the named party is deceased, and has been since before the original action was filed?

Any guidance would be helpful and appreciated. The law firm defending the suit has been great, but they are not estate lawyers and don’t really know the answers to these questions.

submitted by /u/PaddyO424
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Pro Se Suing My Deceased Father

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