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.
Counsel, please send us your court orders and pleadings of potential interest to the bar. We will link any posting to your website and give you full credit. Please tell us how we can improve this site to better serve you, other lawyers, and the public.
In order to preserve the right to bring a creditor claim against a NH estate, a creditor must serve on the administrator a demand for payment within six months of the administrator’s appointment. As I have previously discussed, the procedural requirements governing creditor claims are strict and even actual knowledge of the claim by the […]
In In re Guardianship of L.N., the NH Supreme Court provided important guidance on the power of a guardian to terminate life support of a ward. Recognizing that litigation is a “‘cumbersome mechanism’ for resolving end-of-life decisions,” the court held that “the general power to give or withhold consent to medical treatment under RSA 464-A:25, I(d) […]
Thanks and congrats to Greg Moffett and Nathan Delault on their excellent NH bar presentations on fiduciary bonds. Although fiduciary bonds are a fixture of probate practice, litigation over them is rare. The opportunity to hear from seasoned counsel with practices representing bond companies with knowledge of this arcane area was much appreciated. For lay […]
Congratulations to Barry Schuster on his win before the NH Supreme Court in In re Beatrice C. Skillen 1995 Trust Agreement in which the contestant of a trust advanced a very creative (unsuccessful) argument about the interpretation of the statute of repose of RSA 564-B:4-406. In Skillen, petitioner alleged that certain trust amendments were invalid on […]
Can a fiduciary nominee be held liable for waste of estate or trust assets arising from his unreasonable delay in effectuating his own appointment? In a decision that received much attention when it was decided in 2005, the NH Probate Court (Cassavechia, J.) in In re Estate of Norman P. Bolduc, Jr., answered this question […]
We are always on the lookout for exemplary Probate Court pleadings for the Pleadings Bank and we thank Christopher Cole and Nicole Faille for allowing us to post this impressive pleading they filed requesting the court to extend the statute of limitations for assertion of a creditor claim against a probate estate. The deadlines for […]
I am happy to report that I will be presenting at the Probate Process From Start To Finish, a full day seminar for paralegals on October 4, 2019. My presentation will cover probate disputes and litigation, including: Elder Exploitation; Will and Trust Contests; Pretermitted Heir Claims; and Power of Attorney and Constructive Trust Claims I […]
Under our law, a will or trust cannot be successfully challenged by showing that its dispositions are unfair. The intent of the grantor, no matter how mean spirited, is respected, so long as she had capacity and was not unduly influenced by another. It is interesting to note that this deference to grantor intent is […]
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 […]
