A resource for lawyers and the public in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for information on will contests, trust disputes, guardianships, conservatorships, elder exploitation, fiduciary duty claims, and other probate litigation disputes.
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Much of our practice involves bringing claims against and defending lay fiduciaries. We find that they make common mistakes that often could have been avoided had they been more thoughtful and careful. Because fiduciary duties are the highest in law, namely, utmost loyalty and care, the liability consequences of carelessness can be big legal bills, […]
All too often, a client signs a trust, but fails (perhaps despite reminding) to re-title accounts and other assets in her name as trustee. When she passes, this failure will not be consequential if her probate estate is governed by a pour-over will or otherwise passes to the same beneficiaries in the same proportion as […]
In Tarnawa v. Goode, the NH Supreme Court (Hicks, J.) affirmed that the Superior Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Probate Court to partition real estate, even though the owners previously inherited it in a NH probate proceeding. Congratulations to Joshua Gordon who represented the prevailing party. The decision is in accord with the general […]
This order is offered for educational purposes only. References to law and rules may not be current or accurate. Counsel must evaluate whether the order has utility in a given case. (Note: Ralph Holmes is currently retired from McLane Middleton. For information on this or other probate litigation issues, please contact Alexandra Cote at […]
In apparent conflict with an order by the NH Trust Docket in Swenson v. Christo previously discussed by Andrea Schweitzer, the NH Federal District Court (DeClerico, J.) in Doyon v. Porter held that “New Hampshire would recognize the tort of intentional interference with an inheritance.” Thanks to Greg Moffett who kindly brought Doyon to my […]
