Estate of Philip Meriano, Deceased, Anita Panepinto, Administratrix - Page 19

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               confusion, the Court en banc will review certain of the                
               actions taken by Lynch and restate certain portions of                 
               the adjudication.                                                      
                    It is undisputed that all of the payments made to                 
               anyone connected with the recovery of the bonds were                   
               made by Lynch.  Upon his recovering the bonds, Lynch                   
               took control of them and from the proceeds disbursed a                 
               total of $720,761.19.  He made a wire transfer from his                
               Kidder, Peabody account to Reardon's Kidder account in                 
               the amount of $220,000, leaving Lynch with $500,761.19.                
               He then paid Reardon an additional $30,950.00, which                   
               made Reardon's total receipts the sum of $250,950.00,                  
               and which left Lynch with $469,811.19.                                 
                    From the $469,811.19, Lynch paid the law firm of                  
               Groen & Smolow, Esquires, $95,000, and paid an                         
               additional $7,500 in costs.  Of the $95,000 payment to                 
               the law firm, Lynch allocated the payment $45,000 for                  
               general services to the estate on behalf of Orlando and                
               $50,000 for services to him in connection with the                     
               recovery of the bonds.  He does not contend that he                    
               should be allowed a credit for the $50,000 payment and                 
               agrees that it is an expense he must bear from his fee.                
               He does contend, however, that he should have been                     
               given credit for the payment of $45,000.  Deducting the                
               $45,000 payment and the $7,500 payment, Lynch was left                 
               with a total of $417,311.19.                                           
                    Of the payments made after the wire transfer of                   
               $220,000 to Reardon, the auditing judge disallowed him                 
               a credit of $7,500 because he was unable to itemize                    
               those costs.  We find no error in that disallowance.                   
               However, the auditing judge did not allow Lynch any                    
               credits for the payment of $45,000 to Groen & Smolow,                  
               which payment the auditing judge found to be a                         
               legitimate estate expense, and for the additional                      
               payment of $30,950 to Reardon.  The auditing judge's                   
               failure to allow Lynch credits for those payments was                  
               error and has affected the total amount of the money                   
               which Lynch must refund to the estate.                                 
                    In his adjudication, the auditing judge found that                
               a reasonable fee for Lynch is $401,256.10, or 35% of                   
               the market value of the bonds he recovered.  The                       
               auditing judge then "surcharged" Lynch the difference                  
               between $500,761.19 (the amount remaining to Lynch                     
               after the $220,000 transfer to Reardon) and                            
               $401,256.10, for a total surcharge of $99,505.09.                      




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