Opinion
June 17, 1985
Appeal from the Surrogate's Court, Kings County, Pizzuto, J., Bloom, S.
Decree affirmed, with costs payable personally by the appellant.
Appellant Herbert Levy contends that the Surrogate failed to apply the correct rule in making his determination. While there are some well-recognized guidelines in this area ( see, Matter of Potts, 213 App. Div. 59, 62, affd 241 N.Y. 593), "[t]here is no hard and fast rule by which it can be determined what is reasonable compensation for an attorney in any given case" ( Matter of Brehm, 37 A.D.2d 95, 97; see also, Matter of Wilhelm, 88 A.D.2d 6, 12). The Surrogate's power to fix such compensation "must be exercised with reason, proper discretion and not arbitrarily" ( Matter of Brehm, supra, at p 97). We find no basis in the record for disturbing the exercise of the Surrogate's discretion.
We have reviewed appellant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit. Thompson, J.P., Weinstein, Niehoff and Lawrence, JJ., concur.