Will and trust cases often implicate the interests of multiple parties, some of whom may wish to participate in the proceeding, but be unable or unwilling to engage counsel. By filing with the court an appearance form available on the New Hampshire Probate Court’s website and copying all other parties and their counsel on the filing, an interested party can let the court and the other parties know that he or she will be self-represented in the proceeding. If the party does not agree with the allegations and claims of the lawsuit, he or she must timely file with the court with a copy to other parties and their counsel a pleading opposing the lawsuit. If an opposition is not filed, the party may be deemed to have admitted all well plead allegations of the suit. In some situations, unrepresented parties with interests aligned with our client have filed a “me too” pleading to let the court and others know that they agree with all of the positions we have asserted in our responsive pleading.
(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.)