Wagley v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:18-cv-08668
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Wagley v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, Judge Gardephe granted substitution of James Wagley for deceased plaintiff Mary Frances Wagley.
The ruling allows James Wagley, as administrator of the Estate of Mary Frances Penney Wagley, to replace Mary Frances Wagley as a plaintiff in the case.
What happened
Wagley v. JPMorgan Chase Bank concerns beneficiaries’ claims that JPMorgan defendants mismanaged the Mary Penney Wagley Irrevocable Trust. The plaintiffs brought claims involving fiduciary duties and unjust enrichment.
After Mary Frances Wagley died, the plaintiffs asked the court to replace her with James Wagley, acting as administrator of her estate. No party opposed the request.
Judge Paul G. Gardephe granted the motion. He found that the request was timely, the claims survived Mary Frances Wagley’s death under New York law, and James Wagley was authorized by Maryland to represent her estate.
The detailed version
- Wagley v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. · No. 1:18-cv-08668
- Paul Gardephe
- Apr. 13, 2021
Background
Mary Frances Wagley, James Wagley, Anne Wagley, and Mary Copp, as beneficiaries of the Mary Penney Wagley Irrevocable Trust, sued JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as trustee, and other JPMorgan entities. The amended complaint asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment, based on alleged mismanagement of the Trust.
Mary Frances Wagley died on November 1, 2020. On February 3, 2021, the plaintiffs moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(a)(1) to substitute James Franklin Penney Wagley, acting as administrator of Mary Frances Penney Wagley’s estate, for Mary Frances Wagley. No party opposed the motion.
Rule 25 Requirements
Rule 25(a)(1) allows a court to substitute a proper party when a party dies and the claim is not extinguished. The court explained that it must determine whether the motion was timely, whether the claims survive the death, and whether the proposed substitute is a proper party.
A claim survives if applicable state law provides a right of survival. A proper substitute is either a successor to the deceased party or a representative lawfully designated to represent the deceased party’s estate.
Court’s Analysis and Ruling
The court found that the motion was timely because the plaintiffs notified the defendants of Mary Frances Wagley’s death on November 5, 2020, and submitted the motion within 90 days of that notice.
The court also found that the claims survived under New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law § 11-3.2(b), which provides that a cause of action for injury to a person or property is not lost because of the death of the person who held it. Finally, the court found that James Wagley was a proper party because Maryland had designated him to represent Mary Frances Wagley’s estate.
The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to substitute James Wagley, in his capacity as administrator of the Estate of Mary Frances Penney Wagley, for Mary Frances Wagley.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.