Lane v. Cronin
| Decision Date | 31 October 1962 |
| Parties | Thomas J. LANE v. Katherine CRONIN, Executrix, et al. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Thomas J. Lane, Lawrence, pro se, and George Karelitz, Haverhill, submitted a brief, for petitioner.
Michael A. Molloy, Boston (James P. Brennan, Boston, with him), for respondents.
Before WILKINS, C. J., and SPALDING, WILLIAMS, WHITTEMORE, CUTTER, KIRK and SPIEGEL, JJ.
These are appeals by the executrix of the will of Edward J. Cronin, late of Peabody, and of Alice M. Cronin, a beneficiary under the will, from a decree of the Probate Court allowing the payment of $900 out of the estate to an attorney for compensation and expenses in connection with a petition for probate of a document alleged to be the last will of the testator. Probate was denied and the will disallowed.
The material facts were reported by the judge as follows: Edward J. Cronin died November 24, 1958, leaving as his only heir and next of kin his mother, Alice M. Cronin. On December 10, 1958, Katherine Cronin filed a will of the testator dated March 18, 1958, in which she was named executrix, together with a petition for probate of that instrument. On December 22, 1958, one Gertrude A. Horrigan filed a document purporting to be another will of the testator which was dated November 20, 1958, in which she was named executrix, together with a petition for probate of the will. On July 22, 1959, Mr. Thomas J. Lane, an attorney, filed his appearance on behalf of Gertrude A. Horrigan on her petition for probate of the will dated November 20, 1958. There were hearings on the two petitions for probate, and on May 17, 1960, a decree was entered that the will dated November 20, 1958, 'was not legally executed,' that the will be disallowed, and that the petition for its probate be dismissed. On June 16, 1960, a decree was entered allowing the will of March 18, 1958, as the last will and testament of the deceased. In preparing for the hearings, Mr. Lane Mr. Lane and counsel who assisted him acted in good faith in the honest belief that the will offered for probate had been legally executed. In the preparation and trial of the petition, Mr. Lane has expended the sum of $291, and has incurred expenses for medical and expert testimony in the sum of $480.08. The gross estate now in the hands of Katherine Cronin, the executrix, is approximately $40,000.
On June 11, 1960, Mr. Lane filed a petition that the Probate Court fix and determine his compensation and expenses and direct payment thereof...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Chase v. Pevear
...breach of duty and that the trustee's conduct had not benefited the trust, citing G.L. c. 215, §§ 39A, 39B, 45; Lane v. Cronin, 345 Mass. 52, 185 N.E.2d 635 (1962); Friedman v. Hazen, 328 Mass. 233, 102 N.E.2d 777 (1952). The judge also allowed counsel fees and expenses in the following amo......
-
Hurley v. Noone
...Co. v. Malden Sav. Bank, 328 Mass. 576, 580, 105 N.E.2d 363; Mulcahy v. Boynton, 341 Mass. 171, 178, 167 N.E.2d 867; Lane v. Cronin, 345 Mass. 52, 53-54, 185 N.E.2d 635. Decrees 1 The contents of box no. 1494 are conceded to belong to Beatrice's estate. No argument is made by Noone's brief ......
-
Mahoney v. Mahoney
...335 Mass. 321, 326-327, 140 N.E.2d 161 (1957). Contrast Miller v. Stern, 326 Mass. 296, 93 N.E.2d 815 (1950); Lane v. Cronin, 345 Mass. 52, 185 N.E.2d 635 (1962). 2. The plaintiff's appeal from the order which modified the preliminary injunction presents a threshold procedural question. The......
-
First Nat. Bank of Boston v. Sullivan
...rule in cases arising under § 39A (see Brayton v. Stoughton, 335 Mass. 321, 326--327, 140 N.E.2d 161 (1957); Lane v. Cronin, 345 Mass. 52, 54, 185 N.E.2d 635 (1962)), the knowledgeable writers on the subject are clear on the point that one of the purposes of § 39B was to abrogate so much of......