811.0444/89
The Department of State to the Embassy of the Soviet Union
Aide-Mémoire
The Department of State has received the Aide-Mémoire of June 1, 1944 from the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in which, referring to the practice of the Surrogate’s Court of the State [Country] of New York of ordering the deposit with the City Treasurer of the City of New York of shares of Soviet nationals in estates coming within the jurisdiction of the court, and the request is made that the proper United States authorities undertake all measures in their powers to make it possible for Soviet citizens to receive their shares in such estates.
As the Embassy is probably aware, in the absence of applicable treaty provisions, questions bearing on the rights of aliens to receive shares in estates in this country are not within the jurisdiction of the Federal authorities but are determined by the laws of the state in which the estate is situated.
A copy of the Embassy’s note has been referred to the Governor of New York for consideration and appropriate action.86
- The copy was enclosed in a letter of June 15, 1944, from the Secretary of State to Thomas E. Dewey, the Governor of New York. The assistant counsel to the Governor, Lawrence E. Walsh, replied in a letter of June 22, wherein he pointed out that “the surrogates are independently elected officials and the Governor has no power to review their holdings.” He further called attention to the fact that the attorney in each of the cases mentioned was Mr. Charles Recht, and that “in none of those cases did he see fit to appeal.”↩