In Rostanzo v. Rostanzo, Case No. 09-P-1671, 2010 Mass. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1334 (Dec. 14, 2010), a decision issued pursuant to Rule 1:28, the Appeals Court affirmed the superior court's dismissal of the plaintiff's quantum meruit claim against the decedent's estate for the uncompensated "services" she allegedly provided to the decedent.
The plaintiff was married to the decedent. Prior to marrying, they entered into an antenuptial agreement which stated that each would continue to own the real and personal property with which they came to the marriage and that both would abandon any rights or claims to the other's property. In connection with a separate proceeding that was commenced in probate court, the validity of the antenuptial agreement was upheld. Based on the validity of the antenuptial agreement, the superior court and then the Appeals Court ruled that the plaintiff had effectively contracted away her quantum meruit claim. "That rather comprehensive contract essentially specifies that the plaintiff waived any interest in any aspect of the estate without reservation of any obligation that the decedent undertook to 'take care' of the plaintiff upon his death. Given that there is a binding contract addressing the very subject that the plaintiff here presses, the quantum meruit claim is necessarily and fatally flawed."
Day Pitney Alert
Day Pitney Press Release
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly featured the arrival of new Private Client Department partners Tiffany Bentley, Ann Hetherwick Cahill, Christine Fletcher, and David Raymon in its New Associations column.
Law360 featured the arrival of new partners Tiffany Bentley, Ann Hetherwick Cahill, Christine Fletcher, and David Raymon in the article, "Day Pitney Adds 4 Ex-Burns & Levinson Attys in Boston."
Day Pitney Press Release
Five Boston-based Private Client Department Day Pitney Partners were selected for inclusion on Boston magazine's Top Lawyers of 2022 List.
Day Pitney New Jersey associates were featured in the New Jersey Law Journal's annual profile of associates that joined firms in the last year, "Associates Class of 2022."
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.
Adam Myron, senior counsel resident in Day Pitney's West Palm Beach office, is running for judge in south Florida.