Client: Widow and her five adult children

Scenario: Father purchased a farm in 1920. In 1972, he put the farm into a trust with himself and his two sons (Thomas and Benjamin) as trustees. The wives and children of Thomas and Benjamin were named as beneficiaries of the trust. Thomas and Benjamin, their wives, and children all lived and work on the farm. Farming was the only life that Thomas and Benjamin knew.

In 1994, in creating their wills and estate plans, Thomas and Benjamin created new trusts and ownership of the farm was transferred to these new trusts.

Thomas died unexpectedly in 1997. At the urging of their daughter, after the death of Thomas, Benjamin (who was terminally ill) and his wife revoked their 1994 trusts and conveyed one-half of the farm into a new trust benefiting only Benjamin's children. Thomas' five children lost a substantial interest in the farm as a result of this action.

Value added: Burns & Levinson, led by Partner Robert J. O'Regan, brought an action in the Superior Court to rescind the 1994 transfers. A trial was held for six days. The Superior Court decided in favor of our clients, determining that the 1994 transfer of the farm out of the 1972 trust was invalid - and thus the transfer after the death of Thomas was also invalid. The result is that Thomas' five children each have a 1/7th interest in the farm as was intended by their grandfather when the 1972 trust was established. With the farmland having a value in the millions of dollars, the value saved for the clients was substantial. The amount of land was approximately 100 acres within 25 miles of downtown Boston.

Later, the opposing party appealed the trial court's decision, but the Appeals Court affirmed the trial court's decision in favor of our clients.

Attorneys Robin Lynch Nardone, Francine Gardikas, and Ronald Barriere worked with Partner Robert O'Regan on this complex litigation.

These scenarios are real-life situations. Individual names and company names, if present, have been changed to preserve the privacy of our clients.