CPLR § 213; CPLR § 203; Fraud SOL; Ct. App.

With respect to the timeliness of plaintiff's action, a fraud-based
action must be commenced within six years of the fraud or within two
years from the time the plaintiff discovered the fraud or "could with
reasonable diligence have discovered it" (CPLR 213 [8]; see
CPLR 203 [g]). The inquiry as to whether a plaintiff could, with
reasonable diligence, have discovered the fraud turns on whether the
plaintiff was "possessed of knowledge of facts from which [the fraud]
could be reasonably inferred" (Erbe v Lincoln Rochester Trust Co.,
3 NY2d 321, 326 [1957]). "Generally, knowledge of the fraudulent act is
required and mere suspicion will not constitute a sufficient
substitute" (id.). "Where it does not conclusively appear that a
plaintiff had knowledge of facts from which the fraud could reasonably
be inferred, a complaint [*4]should not be dismissed on motion and the question should be left to the trier of the facts" (Trepuk v Frank, 44 NY2d 723, 725 [1978]; see Erbe,
3 NY2d at 326). There is no indication that plaintiff had knowledge of
the alleged fraud prior to her daughter's discovery of certain
financial documents in decedent's California home after his death, and
there is no dispute that plaintiff commenced this action within two
years of this discovery. Moreover, on the record before us, it is
unclear how plaintiff could have discovered the alleged fraud earlier
than she did.