Power of Attorney Did Not Provide Authority to Create a Trust on Behalf of the Elder Who Granted the Power of Attorney - Barbetti v. Stempniewicz, 490 Mass. 98 (Sup. Jud. Ct. June 28, 2022) Does a power of attorney...more
When it comes to selecting trustees, families often choose family members to serve in this role. There are plenty of great reasons to use a family member, and trustee roles can provide useful experience in teaching the next...more
Part 1 of our Serving as a Trustee series - Being asked to serve as a trustee is an honor. It demonstrates respect for your skills, honesty, judgment and character. When asked, your first inclination likely is to accept,...more
This newsletter is intended to keep readers informed about developments in probate and fiduciary litigation in Massachusetts and New York. Intentional Interference and Unjust Enrichment Claims in Connection with a Trust...more
Following the untimely death last year of his father Big Daddy Bux due to COVID-19, brother Hustler Bux was appointed independent executor of Big Daddy’s Will. When Hustler asked for a judicial discharge, sister Kathy...more
Daughter with Power of Attorney Had Burden to Show No Undue Influence over Father - Coscia v. Sweezey, 2021 WL 4765696 (Mass App. Ct. October 13, 2021) - Does holding a power of attorney from a parent in declining...more
This newsletter is intended to keep readers informed about developments in probate and fiduciary litigation in Massachusetts and New York. Decedent’s New York Residence at Time of Death Does Not Create Jurisdiction in New...more
A common misconception is that when you die with a Will, your heirs avoid probate. In California when you die with a Will and the total assets owned in your sole name exceed $166,250, your estate goes through probate (a court...more
Since the last post to this blog on the evolving issue of access to a decedent’s digital assets (Death and Digital Content: Protecting Digital Assets After the Death of a User, March 29, 2019), New York Courts have issued a...more
The Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter compiles recent Trust & Estate cases. Brother Gets the Cat – and Not Much Else - Where the decedent left his brother his “beloved old cat” and a small sum of money, and...more
I’ve yet to see him make a court appearance, and hope I never do, but the Grim Reaper sure has a knack for disrupting business divorce litigation involving LLCs and limited partnerships....more
“The attorney client privilege, the oldest among common-law evidentiary privileges, fosters the open dialogue between lawyer and client that is deemed essential to effective representation” (Spectrum Sys. Intern. Corp. v...more
The Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter compiles recent Trust & Estate cases. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in the Probate and Family Court. Goulston & Storrs is the...more
The Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter compiles recent Trust & Estate cases. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in the Probate and Family Court. ...more
I haven’t written about digital assets in a while and I was reminded of the importance of putting digital assets into your estate plan this week in a conversation with a colleague....more
Like business divorce, New York trusts and estates litigation (“T&E”) is a highly specialized niche of the law. T&E litigators have their own universe of substantive law, their own set of procedural rules – the Surrogate’s...more
A Personal Representative (PR) is in charge of the property (estate) of an individual who has died (known as the decedent). When a person passes away, their assets become property of their estate....more
In 2016, the New York Legislature enacted a version of the Uniform Law Commission’s Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in Article 13-A (“Article 13-A”) of the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (“EPTL”). ...more
My colleagues have written on the enforceability of in terrorem clauses, and the courts continue to confront challenges in reconciling the testator’s intent to impose an in terrorem condition with the rights of beneficiaries...more
In Vest v. Resolute FP US, Inc., 905 F.3d 985 (6th Cir. 2018), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld dismissal of a claim by the beneficiary of a deceased employee that the employer breached its fiduciary duty under ERISA...more
First, in Calhoun v. Rawlins, No. 17-P-40, 2018 WL 3131023 (Mass. App. Ct. June 27, 2018), the Appeals Court held that creditors could access a spendthrift trust that was created for a beneficiary with cognitive impairments...more
The sudden death of Alexander Calderwood, the brilliant but troubled co-founder of the Ace brand of hotels, resulted in some fierce litigation between Calderwood’s estate and Calderwood’s LLC co-member over the nature of his...more
A recent post to this blog titled You’ve Got (E-)Mail! Can Your Survivors Access It After Your Death?, discussed New York’s recently-enacted digital assets legislation, and Surrogate Mella’s decision in Matter of Serrano,...more