In re Waring
| Decision Date | 09 June 2022 |
| Docket Number | File No. 2001-4485/A |
| Parties | In the MATTER OF the Application of Maria A. WARING, as Administrator of the Estate of James Arthur Waring, Deceased, for leave to receive and distribute an award for the pain and suffering damages of the decedent awarded by the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. |
| Court | New York Surrogate Court |
75 Misc.3d 994
172 N.Y.S.3d 576
In the MATTER OF the Application of Maria A. WARING, as Administrator of the Estate of James Arthur Waring, Deceased, for leave to receive and distribute an award for the pain and suffering damages of the decedent awarded by the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
File No. 2001-4485/A
Surrogate's Court, New York, Queens County.
Decided on June 9, 2022
Attorneys for Petitioner, Ellyn S. Kravitz, Esq., Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara, Wolf & Carone, LLP, 1 MetroTech Center, Suite 1707, Brooklyn, New York 11201
Peter J. Kelly, S.
The petition submitted herein seeks to lift the restrictions placed on the limited letters of administration to allow the collection of an award from the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund ("Terrorism Fund"). In addition, similar to a compromise and account proceeding, it also seeks an allocation of the funds to personal injury instead of wrongful death, the approval of attorneys’ fees, the distribution of the net proceeds to decedent's distributes, and the judicial settlement of the administrator's account. The issue presented to the court is whether any of this additional relief is necessary.
By way of background, decedent died intestate on September 11, 2001 in the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center while employed as the Head of Security for a firm located there. Limited letters of administration were issued to decedent's spouse who thereafter retained a law firm to pursue claims for damages against individual defendants who allegedly participated in or supported the terrorist attacks against the United States.
Petitioner became one of numerous plaintiffs in an action filed in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, captioned Burnett, et al. v. The Islamic Republic of Iran , (S.D.N.Y), seeking damages against the Republic of Iran and other related national entities for their role in aiding and abetting the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that resulted in decedent's death. After obtaining a judgment in favor of decedent's estate in the amount of $8,723,406.00, petitioner received a "Notice of Claim" stating that the administrator had an eligible claim against the Terrorism Fund. Petitioner thereafter filed a claim pursuant to the United States Victims of State
Sponsored Terrorism Act ("Terrorism Act") ( 34 U.S.C. § 20144 ) and on August 28, 2020 the Terrorism Fund issued a "Notice of Allocated Amount" indicating that, pursuant to the rules of distribution and mandated calculations in the Terrorism Act, the estate was granted a compensatory payment for its claim in the total amount of $41,839.67.
The Terrorism Fund was created by the Terrorism Act in 2015, and its purpose is to provide monetary compensation for persons suffering from acts of intentional state-sponsored terrorism ( 34 U.S.C. § 20144 [c][d][e]). In 2019, the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund Clarification Act ("Clarification Act") (Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 , P.L. 116-69, 2019 Enacted H.R. 3055, 133 Stat. 1134 at 1140 [eff. Nov. 21, 2019]) expanded the group of claimants eligible to seek payments from the Terrorism Fund to include "9/11 victims," "9/11 spouses" and "9/11 dependents." It is due to the Clarification Act that claims are now being filed with the Terrorism Fund on behalf of estates.
Claims are made by submitting forms to an appointed "Special Master" who, in turn, determines if eligibility requirements are met. For the purpose...
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