Probate Litigation

Sally & Fitch LLP appears for clients in a wide variety of matters over which the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court has jurisdiction. We represent executors, administrators, trustees, beneficiaries, general and limited partners, and other individuals and entities in will contests, actions for breach of fiduciary duties, accountings and petitions for partition of real property. Clients often turn to us in multiparty actions with complicated issues and high stakes, and in cases involving allegations of fraudulent administration or self-dealing.

Examples from our Probate Litigation Practice

• In an important probate law decision of the Supreme Judicial Court in 2005, we served as counsel for trustees and successfully defended the constitutionality of an 1876 statute that governs the interpretation of certain trusts and wills. Although the statute has spawned considerable litigation, its constitutionality had not been definitively ruled upon by the Massachusetts courts.
  
  
• We represented the heirs of an estate in an action for breach of fiduciary duty against trustees, a lawyer and an accountant of a large estate. The case was resolved successfully in mediation.
  
  
• In another case, we represented a large financial institution in its capacity as executor of an estate. Our lawyers successfully defeated the claims of parties who raised unfounded allegations of fraud in the probate of the estate.
  
  
• A family sought our help in settling a large estate where the decedent's assets had been held in trusts, limited partnerships and a foreign corporation. Our clients were at odds with a family member over issues of asset ownership, delineation and control. At mediation, we achieved their objectives quickly and efficiently, without resort to litigation.

Contact: Kevin R. Connelly | Jonathan W. Fitch | Andrea Peraner-Sweet