A Massachusetts appeals court allows a testator's beneficiary to pursue a breach of contract claim against the testator's estate planning attorney. Fortier v. Sullivan (Mass. Ct. App., No. 12-P-231, Dec. 11, 2012).
Susan Pond hired attorney John Sullivan to draft her estate plan. Albert Fortier was the residual beneficiary of Ms. Pond's will. The will did not exercise Ms. Pond's general power of appointment over a trust that would have allowed funds in the trust to go to Mr. Fortier.
After Ms. Pond died, Mr. Fortier sued Mr. Sullivan for professional negligence and breach of contract. The trial court dismissed the claim, holding that the attorney for a testator does not owe a duty of care to the testator's beneficiaries and is not contractually liable to the testator's intended beneficiaries. Mr. Fortier appealed.
The Massachusetts Court of Appeal reverses in part, dismissing the professional negligence claim but allowing the breach of contract claim to proceed. According to the court, the absence of a written contract does not preclude the breach of contract claim. The court rules that because Mr. Fortier claimed he was supposed to be the intended beneficiary of the legal services provided to Ms. Pond and Mr. Sullivan corroborated this, there was enough information to proceed on the breach of contract claim.
For the full text of this decision, click here.
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