Matter of Abu-Regiaba

In Matter of Abu-Regiaba, (21 Misc. 3d 1106[A], 873 N.Y.S.2d 231, Surrogate's Court, Nassau County, September 30, 2008), Surrogate Riordan stated: "A party bears the risk of a mistake when he is aware, at the time a contract is made, that he has only limited knowledge with respect to the facts to which the mistake relates but treats his limited knowledge as sufficient (Restatement [Second] of Contracts 154). A party cannot rely upon her ignorance of a condition which she could have discovered using ordinary care (P.K. Development, Inc. v. Elvem Development Corp., 226 A.D.2d 200, 640 N.Y.S.2d 558, 1st Dept., 1996; Vandervort v. Higginbotham, 222 A.D.2d 831, 634 N.Y.S.2d 800, 3rd Dept., 1995 ). In Matter of Ham (N.Y.L.J., May 15, 2002 at 22, col. 3) the court denied an application by the co-administrator of decedent's estate to reform a stipulation of settlement which provided for a distribution of the decedent's probate and non-probate assets after she later discovered that one of the non-probate assets was a Totten trust for her benefit, finding that her failure to ascertain the beneficiary designation on the largest of the decedent's bank accounts could only be ascribed to negligence."