WRIGHT v. McDONALD January 24, 2025 NH Trust Docket Order
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. Download
Contest Avoidance: A Probate Litigator’s Tips for Estate Planners
This article was originally published in the March 20, 2024 edition of the New Hampshire Bar News You are on the witness stand in the Probate Court in a will or trust contest, your right hand raised as you get sworn in, readying to testify about a will or trust you prepared decades ago. Your […]
NH Supreme Court Opinion on Jurisdiction in Partition Action
In David Loik v. Gloria Loik, the NH Supreme Court (MacDonald, J.) held that the Circuit Court, rather than the Superior Court, had subject matter jurisdiction over an action for partition of real estate, reasoning that certain post-divorce disputes involving the parties then pending in the Circuit Court – Family Division constituted “relating pending matter[s]” […]
Article on No-Contest Provisions
I recently published the following article in the Union Leader on the subject of no-contest clauses in estate plans: Know the Law: What No-Contest Provisions in an Estate Plan Mean for You Q: My mother’s estate planning documents contain something called “no-contest” provisions. What are these and how do they affect me? A: No-contest provisions, […]
Upcoming Seminar
We are very pleased to announce that we will be speaking on probate litigation issues at an upcoming seminar Estate Administration From Start to Finish sponsored by the National Business Institute. The program will be offered twice: April 28 in Portsmouth at which Alexandra will present and April 30 in Manchester at which Andrea will present. […]
Finding Safe Harbor in an In Terrorem World (Link to Sample Pleadings)
As noted in a prior post by Ralph Holmes, in terrorem or “no-contest” provisions are becoming increasingly common in estate plans in New Hampshire. Such provisions are intended to discourage litigation and effect this purpose by calling for the forfeiture of a legatee’s interests in the will or trust in the event of an unsuccessful […]
NH’s Updated Power of Attorney Statute
Power of attorney accounting actions are among the most common types of litigation in our practice. Effective January 1, 2018, New Hampshire adopted a new statute that made some significant changes and refinements to the law. Here is a recent article in the “Know the Law” series of the Union Leader that discusses the new law.