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In Purcell v. Landers, Case No. 10-P-1757, 2011 Mass. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1251 (Dec. 6, 2011), a decision issued pursuant to Rule 1:28, the Appeals Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part the probate court's disposition of a will contest.
The decedent had one adopted daughter, the plaintiff Lisa Purcell, and they were described as "estranged" from each other. The decedent was afraid of the plaintiff, who had admitted to sufficient facts and a guilty finding of threatening to commit a crime against the decedent, apparently for threatening to burn down his house with him in it, and whom the decedent said had taken $26,000 from him during his lifetime.
In his will, the decedent left only $1 to the plaintiff, leaving the rest to his friend, the defendant Richard Landers, whom the decedent also named as executor. The defendant was described as the decedent's "one true friend" for many years both before and after the death of the decedent's wife in 1984.
The plaintiff objected to the allowance of the will and to the defendant's appointment as executor, in part because it was the defendant who had introduced the decedent to his estate planning lawyer and drove the decedent to the lawyer's office for the preparation of the will. After a trial, the probate court struck the plaintiff's objections and allowed the will for probate, finding that the defendant, rather than the plaintiff, had become the natural object of the decedent's bounty.
The Appeals Court affirmed the portion of the probate court's decision striking the plaintiff's objections, but reversed the allowance of the will for probate, because the defendant, as the proponent of the will, had not met his burden of proving that the will was executed in accordance with the law. Specifically, the defendant had not called the attesting witnesses to testify at trial. "[T]he judge erred in not enforcing the requirement of testimony by attesting witnesses. Instead, he inappropriately shifted the burden of producing the witnesses to the plaintiff. As a result, despite the judge's diligence in preparing thoughtful findings, the defendant failed to satisfy his burden to prove proper execution of the decedent's will as required under G.L. c. 191, § 1." Based on this holding, the Appeals Court remanded the case for further testimony by the attesting witnesses and related evidence.
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.
Day Pitney Press Release
Day Pitney Press Release
Adam Myron, senior counsel resident in Day Pitney's West Palm Beach office, is running for judge in south Florida.
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