PORTSMOUTH — Manchester attorney David Eby is asking for a June trial to dispute the last will and trust for the late Geraldine Webber, who left an estimated $1.8 million in assets to Portsmouth police Sgt. Aaron Goodwin.
Representing the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Society and The Shriners Hospitals for Children, Eby alleges in new court documents that Goodwin befriended Webber, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2010, before helping her visit “more than one attorney for the purpose of changing her estate plan.”
“The attorneys declined to draft a new estate plan,” Eby wrote to the court. “The petitioners believe, and discovery will bear this out, that these attorneys refused to draft new estate planning documents because each had serious concerns about Ms. Webber’s capacity and/or that she was being unduly influenced to sign a new estate plan.”
Eby wrote to the court on Nov. 8 that his clients were each $500,000 beneficiaries under a will Webber endorsed in 2009 with Portsmouth attorney James Ritzo. Under the terms of a disputed will and trust, which Webber endorsed with Hampton attorney Gary Holmes in 2012, each of his clients is an $80,000 beneficiary, Eby wrote.
Goodwin “drove Ms. Webber to see attorney Gary Holmes, who later drafted new estate planning documents,” Eby alleges in a court summary.
A hearing on the case is scheduled for Thursday in the Rockingham County probate court, which Eby has asked to schedule specific deadlines, including a three- to five-day trial commencing June 16.
Through attorney Charles Doleac, Goodwin “denies any and all allegations of any wrongdoing concerning Geraldine Webber.” In previously filed court documents, Goodwin said he gave Webber a business card to contact Holmes, but she conducted all further estate planning on her own.
In a summary statement he filed Nov. 8 with the probate court, Goodwin says he aided Webber “in preventing her former attorney (Ritzo) from maintaining control” over her “against her will” and under a power of attorney. Goodwin’s summary statement to the court alleges he reported Ritzo to the attorney general’s office to keep Ritzo from contacting Webber.
The attorney general’s office previously told the Herald that all allegations concerning Ritzo, Webber’s 25-year attorney, were unfounded.
Similarly, Goodwin’s Nov. 8 summary statement to the probate court says allegations that he exerted undue influence over Webber were determined by the attorney general’s office to be “unfounded.” Goodwin also tells the court that a Dr. John Hopkins determined a month before Webber signed the new will and trust, that she exhibited signs of cognitive impairment, but also had “good recall abilities, her thought processes are intact, and she showed positive signs of preserved cognition.”
Not mentioned is that Hopkins’ report, which was obtained by the Herald, also says Webber had “mild dementia,” “lacks capacity to engage in complex business decisions” and “on a bad day, she’s out there.”
Attorney Gary Holmes, through his attorney, Ralph Holmes, wrote to the court on Nov. 11 stating that Webber “developed great respect and appreciation” for Goodwin and “ultimately decided to show her gratitude for his ongoing friendship by making him a beneficiary under her estate plan.” Holmes tells the court Webber came to think of Goodwin as “her second son,” while a video recording of Webber signing her last will and trust recorded her making sexual remarks about Goodwin.
Webber’s disabled grandson was excluded from the 2012 will and trust. Through attorney Lisa Bellanti, the grandson and only surviving heir told the probate court during an Oct. 21 court hearing that he believes Webber did not have the mental capacity to endorse the 2012 will and trust.
The Portsmouth Police and Fire departments were each previously designated to receive one-quarter of Webber’s estate after the sale of her home and assets. In the will and trust Webber endorsed through Gary Holmes, the departments are each named as $25,000 beneficiaries.
Portsmouth City Attorney Robert Sullivan filed a Nov. 7 statement with the court saying the city takes no position in the case and intends to present no evidence and make no argument.
Braintree (Mass.) High School is now being represented by attorney Anna Hantz, from the Concord law firm of Shaheen, Phinney, Bass & Green. Hantz filed notice with the probate court stating the high school filed an appearance as “an interested party only,” while taking “no position with regard to the legal issues in dispute in this matter.”
Webber’s 2009 will made the high school a $240,000 beneficiary for the purpose of providing annual college scholarships in memory of her late son, Bruce, a 1960 graduate of Braintree High. The subsequent will and trust names Braintree High as a $25,000 beneficiary.
Portsmouth attorney Paul McEachern is representing several individuals who are prior or diminished beneficiaries of Webber’s. He has called the estate dispute “a matter of official corruption” and successfully argued for the case to be heard in public, over Ralph Holmes’ contrary request.
Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards has filed an appearance on behalf of the state’s charitable division.
Webber died Dec. 11, 2012, at age 93, leaving her riverfront home, stocks, bonds and a Cadillac to Goodwin. By all accounts, she met Goodwin when he answered a police call she made about an intruder.
Attribution:
Legal arguments filed in cop’s inheritance dispute
Shriners Hospitals and cancer group seek trial
Elizabeth Dinan
November 16, 2013
Seacoastonline.com
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20131116-NEWS-311160335
Representing the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Society and The Shriners Hospitals for Children, Eby alleges in new court documents that Goodwin befriended Webber, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2010, before helping her visit “more than one attorney for the purpose of changing her estate plan.”
“The attorneys declined to draft a new estate plan,” Eby wrote to the court. “The petitioners believe, and discovery will bear this out, that these attorneys refused to draft new estate planning documents because each had serious concerns about Ms. Webber’s capacity and/or that she was being unduly influenced to sign a new estate plan.”
Eby wrote to the court on Nov. 8 that his clients were each $500,000 beneficiaries under a will Webber endorsed in 2009 with Portsmouth attorney James Ritzo. Under the terms of a disputed will and trust, which Webber endorsed with Hampton attorney Gary Holmes in 2012, each of his clients is an $80,000 beneficiary, Eby wrote.
Goodwin “drove Ms. Webber to see attorney Gary Holmes, who later drafted new estate planning documents,” Eby alleges in a court summary.
A hearing on the case is scheduled for Thursday in the Rockingham County probate court, which Eby has asked to schedule specific deadlines, including a three- to five-day trial commencing June 16.
Through attorney Charles Doleac, Goodwin “denies any and all allegations of any wrongdoing concerning Geraldine Webber.” In previously filed court documents, Goodwin said he gave Webber a business card to contact Holmes, but she conducted all further estate planning on her own.
In a summary statement he filed Nov. 8 with the probate court, Goodwin says he aided Webber “in preventing her former attorney (Ritzo) from maintaining control” over her “against her will” and under a power of attorney. Goodwin’s summary statement to the court alleges he reported Ritzo to the attorney general’s office to keep Ritzo from contacting Webber.
The attorney general’s office previously told the Herald that all allegations concerning Ritzo, Webber’s 25-year attorney, were unfounded.
Similarly, Goodwin’s Nov. 8 summary statement to the probate court says allegations that he exerted undue influence over Webber were determined by the attorney general’s office to be “unfounded.” Goodwin also tells the court that a Dr. John Hopkins determined a month before Webber signed the new will and trust, that she exhibited signs of cognitive impairment, but also had “good recall abilities, her thought processes are intact, and she showed positive signs of preserved cognition.”
Not mentioned is that Hopkins’ report, which was obtained by the Herald, also says Webber had “mild dementia,” “lacks capacity to engage in complex business decisions” and “on a bad day, she’s out there.”
Attorney Gary Holmes, through his attorney, Ralph Holmes, wrote to the court on Nov. 11 stating that Webber “developed great respect and appreciation” for Goodwin and “ultimately decided to show her gratitude for his ongoing friendship by making him a beneficiary under her estate plan.” Holmes tells the court Webber came to think of Goodwin as “her second son,” while a video recording of Webber signing her last will and trust recorded her making sexual remarks about Goodwin.
Webber’s disabled grandson was excluded from the 2012 will and trust. Through attorney Lisa Bellanti, the grandson and only surviving heir told the probate court during an Oct. 21 court hearing that he believes Webber did not have the mental capacity to endorse the 2012 will and trust.
The Portsmouth Police and Fire departments were each previously designated to receive one-quarter of Webber’s estate after the sale of her home and assets. In the will and trust Webber endorsed through Gary Holmes, the departments are each named as $25,000 beneficiaries.
Portsmouth City Attorney Robert Sullivan filed a Nov. 7 statement with the court saying the city takes no position in the case and intends to present no evidence and make no argument.
Braintree (Mass.) High School is now being represented by attorney Anna Hantz, from the Concord law firm of Shaheen, Phinney, Bass & Green. Hantz filed notice with the probate court stating the high school filed an appearance as “an interested party only,” while taking “no position with regard to the legal issues in dispute in this matter.”
Webber’s 2009 will made the high school a $240,000 beneficiary for the purpose of providing annual college scholarships in memory of her late son, Bruce, a 1960 graduate of Braintree High. The subsequent will and trust names Braintree High as a $25,000 beneficiary.
Portsmouth attorney Paul McEachern is representing several individuals who are prior or diminished beneficiaries of Webber’s. He has called the estate dispute “a matter of official corruption” and successfully argued for the case to be heard in public, over Ralph Holmes’ contrary request.
Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards has filed an appearance on behalf of the state’s charitable division.
Webber died Dec. 11, 2012, at age 93, leaving her riverfront home, stocks, bonds and a Cadillac to Goodwin. By all accounts, she met Goodwin when he answered a police call she made about an intruder.
Attribution:
Legal arguments filed in cop’s inheritance dispute
Shriners Hospitals and cancer group seek trial
Elizabeth Dinan
November 16, 2013
Seacoastonline.com
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20131116-NEWS-311160335
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