## Facts

- Cecilia Zielinski was hospitalized in May 1992 and diagnosed with colon cancer; she was also diagnosed with a delusional disorder.
- During her hospitalization, she developed fixed persecutory delusions that her son, Eugene Zielinski, had harmed her through bizarre acts that had no factual basis.
- On June 23, 1992, Cecilia executed a will leaving her residuary estate in equal shares to her sister, Barbara Moczulski, and Moczulski’s husband, while omitting her only son and all other lineal descendants.
- The same day, Cecilia executed a power of attorney in favor of Moczulski.
- Cecilia’s principal assets included a house and roughly 200 U.S. savings bonds worth about $360,000, accumulated over decades and titled to benefit her grandchildren and great-grandchildren (sole ownership, joint ownership, or payable-on-death designations).
- After receiving the power of attorney, Moczulski redeemed the bonds.
- The Surrogate’s Court denied probate of the June 23, 1992 instrument and, in a related action, ordered Moczulski to pay the redeemed bond proceeds to the beneficiaries designated on the bonds as though the bonds had not been redeemed.

## Issues

1. Whether the June 23, 1992 instrument was invalid because the testator lacked testamentary capacity due to an insane delusion.
2. Whether the delusions materially affected the testamentary disposition, particularly the disinheritance of the testator’s son and lineal descendants.
3. Whether the agent under a power of attorney could redeem U.S. savings bonds in a manner that defeated the interests of the bonds’ named beneficiaries, and what remedy was appropriate.

## Decision

- The Appellate Division affirmed the decree denying probate of the June 23, 1992 will.
- The court held that the will was the product of an insane delusion that directly affected the disposition and therefore defeated testamentary capacity.
- The Appellate Division affirmed the judgment requiring Moczulski to pay the redeemed bond proceeds to the beneficiaries named on the bonds in amounts reflecting what they would have received absent redemption.

## Legal Principles

- A will may be denied probate where a testator suffers from an insane delusion (a fixed false belief without factual basis) that materially influences the testamentary disposition.
- A drastic departure from a consistent, long-standing donative pattern, together with medical and testimonial evidence of a delusional disorder directed at a disinherited natural object of bounty, can support a finding that the delusion caused the testamentary scheme.
- Courts may order equitable relief against a fiduciary who, acting under a power of attorney, interferes with established beneficiary designations on non-probate assets by requiring restoration of the economic equivalent to the intended beneficiaries.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed denial of probate because the will was driven by an insane delusion targeting the testator’s son and causing his disinheritance, and it upheld a restorative remedy requiring the attorney-in-fact to pay redeemed U.S. savings bond proceeds to the bonds’ named beneficiaries.


In re Estate of Zielinski, 208 A.D.2d 275 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep’t 1995)