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Appeals, the highest court in that State, squarely
addressed this issue in In re Estate of Crea, 266 N.E.2d
815 (N.Y. 1971). In that case, the court affirmed the
reversal of the trial court's ruling that a coexecutor-
beneficiary was not entitled to interest on her bequest
under SCA section 218 because of her status as coexecutor.
The court reasoned as follows:
Appellant also urges that she is entitled
to interest on her cash legacy because it was
not paid until nearly three years after letters
testamentary were issued. The Surrogate denied
interest on the ground that appellant, as
coexecutor, was equally at fault with her brother
for the delay in paying the bequest. The
Appellate Division, however, modified the decree
holding that under section 218 of the Surrogate's
Court Act appellant was entitled to interest at
the rate of 3% per annum. We agree. Though
section 218 vested the Surrogate with the
discretion to determine the reasonableness of
the delay as a factor in considering whether or
not the legatee was entitled to 6% interest, the
statute specifically provided for the imposition
of 3% interest where the legacy is not paid seven
months from the issuance of letters testamentary.
Thus, it was entirely proper for the Appellate
Division to allow 3% interest * * * [Id. at 817-
818.]
In re Estate of Zalaznick, 389 N.Y.S.2d 736, 738
(Sur. Ct. 1976) (citing Crea in holding that the same
result obtains under EPTL section 11-1.5).
Petitioners have presented insufficient support to
convince this Court that EPTL section 11-1.5 does not apply
to pecuniary bequests in trust. In addition, if EPTL
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