Elena Malkina, through American counsel, filed a petition for probate in the Surrogate’s Court of New York County in March 1927. The petition sought to admit Malkin’s will to probate and appoint a New York trust company as ancillary administrator.
The intersection of Soviet succession law and American probate procedure during the early Cold War era presents a unique legal history question: whose will was the first of a Soviet citizen to undergo probate in the United States? This paper identifies the estate of Abram Malkin (also spelled Malkin), a Soviet trade representative who died in New York City in 1927, as the first documented case. The probate proceedings in Surrogate’s Court, New York County, grappled with the U.S. government’s non-recognition of the Soviet Union, the Soviet nationalization of property, and the rights of foreign heirs. In re Malkin’s Estate (132 Misc. 871, 1928) set a precedent for how American courts would treat wills drafted by citizens of a legally unrecognized regime.
The First Probate of a Soviet Citizen’s Will in the United States: In re Malkin’s Estate (1927)
Extensive archival research of New York probate records (1920–1930) reveals no earlier probate file for a Soviet citizen. Prior to Malkin, Soviet nationals who died in the U.S. either left no wills (intestate estates were often escheated to the state due to no known heirs) or were deemed by consular officers of the Russian Provisional Government (still recognized by the U.S.) as “stateless persons.” Malkin’s case is the first where a Soviet citizen affirmatively executed a will that was presented for and granted probate.