IMO Estate of George Wroten Cordray ( 2023 )

COURT OF CHANCERY
OF THE
SAM GLASSCOCK III STATE OF DELAWARE COURT OF CHANCERY COURTHOUSE
VICE CHANCELLOR 34 THE CIRCLE
GEORGETOWN, DELAWARE 19947
July 11, 2023
Gerald I. Street, Esquire Cynthia L. Maxwell Masters
Street & Ellis, P.A.
426 S. State Street Diane Elaine Maxwell Tori
Dover, DE 19901
Beverly Anne Maxwell Miller
Deirdre A. McCartney, Esquire
Sergovic Carmean Weidman
McCartney & Owens
25 Chestnut Street
PO Box 751
Georgetown, DE 19947
RE: IMO the Estate of George Wroten Cordray and Robert L. Lane,
Administrator for the Estate of George Wroten Cordray, C.A. No.
2022-0614-SG
Dear Mr. Street:
At the end of my Opinion of May 19, 2023, I asked for submission of “a form
of order for distribution of George [Wroten Cordray]’s estate consistent with [that]
Opinion.”1 The form of order you submitted on June 16, 2022, does not seem to
address the finding of that Opinion that the heirs were to be determined as of the
date of George Wroten Cordray’s death, June 23, 1988.2
1
IMO Estate of Cordray, 294 A.3d 99, 105 (Del. Ch. 2023).
2
See id. at 101 n.9.
Accordingly, I have appended an order, consistent with my Opinion of May
19, 2023, identifying that the appropriate heirs are those descended from George
Wroten Cordray’s grandparents who were alive as of the date of his death, but I have
done so without identifying individuals. If the estate needs further instruction as to
the current individuals entitled to distribution, it should so inform me by 4:30 PM
on July 20, 2023. After that date, my order accompanying this letter order shall be
entered as a final order of the Court and the matter closed.
To the extent the foregoing requires an order to take effect, it is SO
ORDERED.
Sincerely,
/s/ Sam Glasscock III
Sam Glasscock III
cc: All counsel of record (by File & ServeXpress)
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IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE )
OF GEORGE WROTEN CORDRAY )
and ROBERT L. LANE, ) C.A. No. 2022-0614-SG
ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE ESTATE )
OF GEORGE WROTEN CORDRAY )
ORDER
WHEREAS, George Wroten Cordray (the “Decedent”) died intestate on
June 23, 1988;
WHEREAS, the Decedent without spouse or issue;
WHEREAS, the Decedent’s parents, Norris Johnson Cordray and Emma
Leroy Wroten Cordray, predeceased the Decedent on August 4, 1955;
WHEREAS, the Decedent’s only sibling, Norris Johnson Cordray Jr., was
adjudicated deceased on January 31, 2022, with a presumed date of death of
January 1, 2014,
WHEREAS, Decedent’s only sibling, Norris Johnson Cordray Jr.,
repudiated the Decedent’s estate and died intestate without spouse or issue;
WHEREAS, the Decedent’s grandparents, George Cordray, Mary Rebecca
Hayes, Viola E. Graham, and Roy Earl Wroten, all predeceased Decedent;
WHEREAS, descendants of Decedent’s grandparents survived Decedent;
3
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1. That Robert L. Lane, administrator of the Estate of George Wroten Cordray,
distribute the estate of George Wroten Cordray, to the descendants of
Decedent’s grandparents per stirpes in accordance with 12 Del. C. §§ 501 et seq.
/s/ Sam Glasscock III
Vice Chancellor
4