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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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 […]
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 In re Trust of Mary Baker Eddy, the NH Supreme Court (Donovan, J.) decided an important issue of first impression, namely, the requirements for standing of a potential beneficiary of a charitable trust to file a court action relative to the administration of the charity. Charitable trusts are non-profits, including hospitals, colleges, public service […]
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 […]
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 a careful and thorough consideration of the evidence, the NH Trust Docket ruled that NH does not have jurisdiction to probate the estate of John Chakalos and consequently the pending “slayer rule” action against his grandson Nathan Carman must be dismissed. The decision is a major victory for Nathan and his legal team as […]
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 alexandra.cote@mclane.com.) […]
