Massachusetts  |  Wills and Trusts

Thanks for your inquiry. You raise a question that we are seeing more often of late. There is support in the law for the proposition that if a fiduciary breaches a duty to the testator, the amount that would otherwise go to the fiduciary may be reduced or offset by the damages or loss caused to the testator by the fiduciary. The mechanics of this are somewhat complicated but generally entail having a special administrator appointed by the Probate Court to investigate and bring claims against that fiduciary (assuming that the fiduciary does not step aside voluntarily, in which case the substitute executor/executrix would bring the case.

Please contact me if you wish to further discuss this matter. You can read more about fiduciary misconduct on my blog at www.lawfang.com