All Case Results

Timothy Ritchey & Kyle Fahey represented an heir on a petition to contest a decedent’s will that left the entirety of her estate to a handyman. In seeking summary judgment, the heirs presented evidence that the handyman established a fiduciary relationship with the decedent by taking her grocery shopping, doing work at her home, and paying bills on her behalf. Additionally, the handyman procured the will by engaging a law firm to prepare a deed adding the respondent as a joint tenant on her home and a will leaving the entirety of her estate to him. The Court ruled that the Decedent’s will and deed were the product of undue influence, which the handyman could not overcome and invalidated the will, leaving the estate to pass to decedent’s heirs.

Timothy Ritchey & Kyle Fahey represented the heirs of a deceased Army veteran who accumulated significant stock holdings throughout his life. As the decedent’s health declined, one of his distant family members began acting as an agent under power of attorney for finance, which the family member utilized to re-title the decedent’s stock holdings to himself and other family members. On behalf of the Estate, Peck Ritchey, LLC sought and obtained summary judgment that the power of attorney’s actions were outside the scope of his authority, invalidating the beneficiary changes on the decedent’s stock holdings, recovering the assets to the estate, and obtained a judgment recovering attorney’s fees against the agent for his breach of fiduciary duty.

Timothy Ritchey & Eli Graves successfully had their client appointed as the administrator of her mother’s estate after her mother left no Will. Once appointed, Peck Ritchey, LLC filed a Petition to recover misappropriated assets that had been transferred out of the Decedent’s possession by the Decedent’s Power of Attorney, and placed in a trust, also created by the Decedent’s Power of Attorney. The Court granted our Petition, invalidated the Power of Attorney’s deed-to-trust, and ordered the return of the Decedent’s real property to her Estate. The real property was restored to the Decedent’s estate so that it could pass properly to her rightful heirs.

Timothy Ritchey and Kyle Fahey obtained summary judgment for a client on a Will Construction case against Executor who had taken a position against an heir and legatee for her own benefit in breach of her fiduciary duties. The Court shifted and assessed attorney fees against the defendant for her breach of fiduciary duty as executor.

Peter Brady represented the executor in defending her mother’s last will and testament. Our client’s half-siblings alleged that the will was a forgery and contained fraudulent signatures. Peck Ritchey, LLC successfully overcame the plaintiff’s handwriting expert and obtained summary judgment upholding the validity of the deceased’s will.

Peter Brady represented a woman who was sued by her deceased husband’s daughters from a prior marriage. The daughters alleged that our client interfered with their inheritance by procuring changes to a trust and IRA beneficiary designations while their father was cognitively impaired. Peck Ritchey, LLC successfully obtained summary judgment in favor of our client.

Peter Brady represented the administrator of her mother’s estate in connection with claims against another sibling for breaching her fiduciary obligations by taking money from their elderly, disabled mother prior to her death. Peck Ritchey, LLC prevailed at trial, with the court awarding monetary damages and attorneys’ fees in favor of the estate.

Peter Brady & Daniel Lynch represented an individual beneficiary of his parents’ trusts in claims against his brother related to dissipation of trust assets. After extensive litigation, Peck Ritchey, LLC was able to obtain a favorable settlement with our client receiving significantly more than the amount he was going to receive pre-suit.

Peter Brady represented a trustee in defending claims for breach of fiduciary duty and accounting. We filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and then the plaintiff settled the case, voluntarily giving up their claims with no damages or other compensation paid by our client to the plaintiff.