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 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) […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. I am always happy to try to answer general questions of fellow counsel about law and practice and can be reached via the information […]
This order is offered for educational purposes only. References to law and rules may not be current or accurate. Counsel must evaluate whether the pleading 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.) […]
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 […]
This pleading is offered as a sample for educational purposes only. References to law and rules may not be current or accurate. Counsel must evaluate whether the pleading 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 […]
