NEW YORK, Feb. 27th 1928
Re: Estate of AMANDA F. LAUTERBACH, Deceased.
Dear Madam:
The Executors names in the Will and Codicil of the decedent, AMANDA F. LAUTERBACH, have brought a proceeding to obtain the approval of the Surrogate to the settlement and compromise as set forth in the Agreement dated October 15th, 1927, to which Mme. Cor. Ramondt-Hirschmann is a party. The Surrogate has approved of this Agreement and an Order has been entered directing the Executors, upon their qualifications, to administer the estate of the decedent in accordance with the Will and Codicil as modified and changed by the Compromise and Settlement Agreement of October 15th, 1927. Under the terms of the Agreement, the objections to the Probate of the Will filed by the daughters of the decedent, will be withdrawn, and the Will will be probated in the next few days. As you know, a considerable period of time has elapsed since the death of Mrs. Lauterbach and in the meantime, the funds of her estate have been administered by temporary administrators appointed by the Surrogate's Court. These temporary administrators are now preparing to settle their accounts and upon the settlement of the same, the funds of the estate will be turned over by the temporary administrators to the Executors for administration [page 2] in accordance with the terms of the Will and Codicil as modified by the terms of the Settlement Agreement. After this is done, it will take some time for the Executors to conduct the necessary tax proceedings before they will be in a position to finally account for all of the estate of the decedent and make final distribution. Before they finally account as Executors, they will very probably make some payments on account.
Mme. Ramondt-Hirschmann, under the Will, is entitled to a legacy of $5,000. This legacy is not altered by the Compromise Agreement. In addition to this legacy, Mme. Hirschmann has an interest in the residuary estate which is determined by the Compromise Agreement.
It will be necessary for us to appear on behalf of Mme. Hirschmann in the proceeding about to be commenced by the temporary administrators to settle their accounts. For this purpose we are sending to Mme. Hirschmann an Authorization authorizing us to appear in that proceeding in her behalf. When the Executors bring their proceeding for a final accounting, it will again be necessary for us to appear in that proceeding for Mme. Hirschmann. And in the meantime, it may also be necessary for us to appear on her behalf in some tax proceeding. With this in mind, we are sending to her Authorizations which will permit us to appear in her behalf.
We are also sending her a Power of Attorney for her to execute, which designates our firm as her attorney in fact, to receive all payments to which she is entitled from the Estate of AMANDA F. LAUTERBACH, Deceased. These payments, of course, we [page 3] would receive as her agents and account to her therefor. We believe it desirable to have our firm so authorized, and in this way, we will be able to give to the Executors receipts in the name of Mme. Hirschmann for payments as they are made.
Last summer, Mr. Tibbetts, one of the temporary administrators, was obliged to go to Europe on other business and while he was there, he went to Geneva and examined into the records of the League. He also interviewed Mme. Hirschmann and Miss Doty. Before leaving this country, however, he obtained our consent to interview these ladies and suggested that the League should bear whatever expense he incurred in making this investigation. We informed him at the time that we were not authorized to obligate the League to meet these expenses, but felt quite certain that when the League received funds from the Lauterbach Estate, that the proper authorities in the League would be glad to reimburse him for expenses incurred. As Mr. Tibbetts is one of the Counsel for the contesting daughters of Mrs. Lauterbach, we deemed it most important for the interests of the League to have him convinced that Mme. Hirschmann was in fact the person performing the functions of Treasurer and that the League was a real organization having real officers. He came back to this country satisfied that Mme. Hirschmann was in fact the person performing the functions of the office of Treasurer and that the League was an existing and functioning body. Mr. Tibbetts will furnish us, in the next few days, we believe, with a memorandum of his disbursements, and we feel that he should be reimbursed for his expenses [page 4] incurred last summer, out of the first funds received from the Executors of the Lauterbach estate. When we have the exact amount, we shall write your further. This situation will illustrate the advantage of having our firm as agents to receive amounts due Mme. Hirschmann from the Estate, and we believe you will approve of the method.
This Power of Attorney merely appoints this firm as agents for Mme. Hirschmann and under our Law, an agency terminates upon the death of the principal -- in this case, Mme. Hirschmann. After we have received the Power of Attorney back from Mme. Hirschmann properly executed, and the Executors notify us of their intention to make a partial payment, in addition to the Power of Attorney, it will be necessary for Mme. Hirschmann to cable us that she is still alive and still Treasurer in fact. We have written to Mme. Hirschmann explaining this point and requesting her to cable us "Alive Treasurer" when she receives a cable from us "Cable living."
Our letter to Mme. Hirschmann enclosing the Power of Attorney and the Authorizations was mailed on Saturday last. We were obliged to write her before writing you due to the fact that the International Executive Committee meets in Geneva on March 20th, 1928, with a preliminary meeting at the same place on March 16th, 1928, and it is our desire to get these papers to Mme. Hirschmann and signed before she goes to Geneva. This situation was presented a little before we had anticipated it and was brought to a head on Friday afternoon last by one of the Executors who asked us on the telephone if we had authority to appear in the proceeding which is about to be instituted to settle the accounts of the [page 5] temporary administrators. Miss Balch sailed on Friday so we are unable to communicate with her.
If our plan as outlined here, meets with you approval, we suggest, if you think it advisable, you cable Mme. Hirschmann that you approve of the method contained in our letter which is on its way to her and the papers enclosed therein, and particularly that you approve of the Power of Attorney authorizing us to receive payments from the Estate as agents for Mme. Hirschmann.
Very truly yours,
Alexander & Kennan [signed]
Comments