Ann Hetherwick Cahill

Ann Hetherwick "Hether" represents beneficiaries and fiduciaries in fiduciary, probate and trust disputes. Her practice focuses on probate, trust, equity, guardianships, and conservatorship litigation. Hether also serves as trustee of private trusts and personal representative of estates.

Hether advises clients at every stage of litigation, sometimes avoiding litigation entirely or resolving issues through mediation. As a former law clerk of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, she brings her strong writing skills and knowledge of the appellate process to contested matters, trials, and appeals. Above all, Hether appreciates that clients are often going through a difficult time of their lives and their legal and emotional needs are unique.

Hether handles wide-ranging probate and trust disputes, including:

• trustee removal actions, defense and prosecution;
• will contests and trust invalidity actions involving undue influence, lack of capacity, and/or formation issues;
• trust modification, termination, reformation, cy pres, and/or interpretation actions;
• accounting actions;
• omitted spouse or child actions, including DNA and exhumation issues;
• equity actions involving real estate;
• complaints for instructions and/or declaratory judgment actions;
• divorce, including issues whether a trust is divisible as a marital asset;
• conservatorships, including expanded authority to perform estate planning; and
• guardianships and financial exploitation.