Donna Mizrahi quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article “Extrinsic evidence allowed to prove testator’s intent”

Hemenway & Barnes litigator, Donna A. Mizrahi, was quoted in a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article, “Extrinsic evidence allowed to prove testator’s intent,” in connection with the Appeals Court ruling In the Matter of the Estate of Olson. In overturning the Probate and Family Court decision, the Appeals Court determined that extrinsic evidence was admissible to demonstrate the legitimacy of a will signed by a conservator on behalf of the testator, where the conservator erroneously believed he had the authority to execute the testator’s will.

Mizrahi told MLW, “the decision shows how critical it is for conservators to review which specific powers are granted by law and pay close attention to those that require court approval and those that do not.” Here, there was a court order that directed the conservator and others to establish a financial and estate plan on behalf of the respondent, but it was not clear whether this court order vested the conservator with the authority to execute a will on the testator’s behalf (an action which normally only the Court can do). As Mizrahi noted in MLW, “[t]o the extent there is ambiguity in a court order about the scope of a fiduciary’s authority, best practice is to clarify the issue with the court — although it is not always easy or practicable to do so.”