Lawyer not liable to unnamed beneficiaries of will
Reversing a decision by a state appellate court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that a lawyer cannot be liable for legal malpractice to potential third-party beneficiaries of a decedent’s estate when the potential beneficiaries have not been named in testamentary documents actually executed by the decedent. The case arose when an attorney was asked to revise various estate planning documents for Robert Agnew, a long-time client. As part of the estate plan as of 2010, the residue of his estate was to be distributed among four colleges and universities. After Agnew was admitted into a hospice program in March 2010, his niece contacted the lawyer saying Agnew wanted to make changes...
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