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In Cascio v. D'Arcangelo, Case No. 09-P-1039, 2010 Mass. App. Unpub. LEXIS 346 (Mar. 30, 2010), a decision issued pursuant to Rule 1:28, the Appeals Court enforced an agreement regarding the post-death distribution of property.
Parents Guiseppe and Donata had four daughters -- Bianca, Lidia, Ivana and Gelsomina. In an apparent effort to protect their home from a Medicaid lien should they require nursing home care, the parents executed a deed to their home to Bianca, and at the same time the parents and all four daughters executed an agreement which provided that Bianca would have a life estate in the property and that she would sell it and the net proceeds would be distributed equally among the four daughters upon the parents' deaths. The agreement further provided that it could not be amended except in writing by all of the parties.
Donata pre-deceased Guiseppe. After Donata's death, Guiseppe, Bianca and Gelsomina (without Lidia and Ivana, and obviously without Donata) purported to amend the agreement to provide that Bianca would receive 60% of the net proceeds of the sale of the property upon Guiseppe's death, that Gelsomina would receive 40%, and that Lidia and Ivana would receive nothing. Following Guiseppe's death, Lidia and Ivana sought to enforce the earlier agreement providing for equal distributions among all four daughters. The superior court granted their motion for summary judgment, and Bianca appealed.
The Appeals Court affirmed summary judgment for Lidia and Ivana, rejecting Bianca's argument that the earlier agreement was not supported by valid consideration because neither she nor Lidia or Ivana paid any money to the parents or incurred a debt on their behalf. The court held that Bianca's promise to take title to the property during the parents' lifetimes, and then to sell it after their deaths and distribute the proceeds in the prescribed manner, benefited the parents by allowing them to achieve their goal to be eligible for Medicaid funding for nursing home care. Therefore, the earlier agreement did not fail for lack of consideration.
Kaitlyn (Katie) Sapp co-presented on "Updates in Probate Law and Practice" at the Massachusetts Bar Association's Ninth Annual Probate Law Conference on November 8.
On February 11, the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey and Prudential will present the 11th Annual Corporate Counsel Conference.
On January 13, Darian Butcher will moderate and Alisa Hacker will speak at the Boston Bar Association webinar, "Breach of Fiduciary Duty Litigation: Superior Court Versus Probate & Family Court."
Margaret Meehan, Tiana Gianopulos and Alexis Gettier collaborated on an article, "New Direction: The Connecticut Uniform Directed Trust Act" for the Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal.
Mark Romance authored an article, "Five Tips for Representing a Non-Party Served with a Document Subpoena: Welcome to the Party?," published by the American Bar Association Section of Litigation.
New Jersey Office Managing Partner Paul Marino was featured in Capital Analytics Associates' Invest: North Jersey article, "Maintaining the Emphasis on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion."
Six Boston-based Individual Clients Department Day Pitney attorneys were named to Boston Magazine's Inaugural Top Lawyers of 2021 List.
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Adam Myron, senior counsel resident in Day Pitney's West Palm Beach office, is running for judge in south Florida.
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