Law and Disorder: The Jerry Orbach Estate Battle

Jerry Orbach, who starred as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the popular “Law and Order” television series, died a decade ago, but a battle is brewing over his Chase bank account, according to a recent story in the New York Post.

The Chase bank account in dispute belongs to Orbach’s Mingoya Productions company, and is currently under the control of the actor’s former accountant, Patricia M. Black. Orbach added Black as a signatory to the company’s account a year before he died in 2004.

Black also served as executor of the estate of Orbach’s wife Elaine, who inherited his entire estate and who died in 2009. After Elaine died, her sister, Rita Hubbard, replaced Black as executor. Hubbard contacted Chase to inform them of the change in executor and request that Black be cut off from access to the account.

Chase says that Black has not responded to its many phone calls and letters, and is unwilling to turn the account over to Hubbard because it is unsure who the rightful owner of the account is since it has no proof that Elaine was ever a co-owner of Mingoya Productions.

Hubbard’s attorney says that Elaine’s estate is the sole owner of Mingoya Productions, and is therefore the rightful owner of the account.

A lawsuit has been filed in Manhattan to resolve the dispute.

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