Spinnato v. Goldman

• Decision Date: 19 December 2014
• Docket Number: Civil No. 14–12443–PBS.
• Citation: 67 F.Supp.3d 457
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts
• Parties: James SPINNATO, Plaintiff, v. Martin C. GOLDMAN, Defendant.

67 F.Supp.3d 457

James SPINNATO, Plaintiff

v.Martin C. GOLDMAN, Defendant.

Civil No. 14–12443–PBS.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

Signed Dec. 19, 2014.

Timothy J. Perry, Perry, Krumsiek & Dolan LLP, Boston, MA, for Plaintiff.

George A. Berman, Sherry Y. Mulloy, Peabody & Arnold LLP, Boston, MA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SARIS, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff James Spinnato is the heir and former co-executor of the estate of Winnie Ansin, an elderly widow he befriended more than a decade before her death. Martin C. Goldman was Ansin's estate attorney and is currently the co-executor of her estate. Spinnato alleges that Goldman encouraged Ansin's relatives to file suit against him for undue influence, despite repeatedly assuring Spinnato that Ansin's estate planning documents were valid and his relationship with her was proper. Spinnato asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duties, fraudulent misrepresentation, tortious interference with the expectancy of a gift, and contribution. He seeks $300,000 in damages. Goldman has moved to dismiss. After a hearing, the motion to dismiss is ALLOWED in part and DENIED in part.

ALLEGED FACTS

The complaint alleges the following facts, some of which are disputed.

I. Estate Planning of Winnie Ansin

Winnie R. Ansin, a Massachusetts widow, was a client of Goldman's from about 1995 until her death in 2011. Goldman, who resides in Massachusetts, is an attorney with a practice focusing on probate and estate administration. Goldman prepared a Last Will and Testament for Ansin, which she signed and he notarized on August 29, 1995. The heirs listed in that will were Runnae Spriggs, Kathy Cash, Patti Harrison, Sydney Marie Cash, Charles Waldrop, Harold Cash, James Cash, and David Cash. All were Ansin's distant relatives, and all but Waldrop lived in Texas and did not regularly see or contact Ansin during the last twenty years of her life.

Spinnato, who resides in New Hampshire, met Ansin in 1998, and they became friends soon afterward. Both considered the relationship akin to mother and son, and they would remain friends until Ansin's death. The two frequently met for coffee and regularly shared meals, and Spinnato sometimes ran errands for Ansin such as grocery shopping. Around April 2000, Ansin moved to Brooksby Village, an assisted living facility in Peabody, Massachusetts, with Spinnato's help.

Ansin introduced Spinnato to Goldman, her estate planning attorney, in 2005. Spinnato and Goldman met each other five or six times over the years, and Goldman was always cordial and stated his belief that Spinnato was Ansin's best friend. He never mentioned believing that their relationship was improper. Goldman told Spinnato that Ansin had expressed a wish to give Spinnato the bulk of her assets either upon her death or prior to it through the use of joint accounts, and indicated that he approved of Ansin's plan.

In 2006, Ansin sought Goldman's services to change her estate plan to reflect her relationship with Spinnato. On March 29, 2006, she executed a First Codicil to her will and a Durable Power of Attorney in favor of Spinnato. Goldman drafted and notarized both documents. The codicil made Spinnato and Goldman co-executors of Ansin's estate, and made Spinnato a major heir of the estate. The codicil changed several bequests, including providing that Spinnato and another friend of Ansin's, Josephine Pucillo, would receive the $200,000 apartment deposit Ansin had given to Brooksby Village. Goldman told Spinnato that both documents reflected Ansin's true intent, and never suggested that Ansin was incompetent or subject to undue influence. Subsequently, Ansin and Spinnato relied on Goldman's representations about the validity of the documents to conduct their estate and long-term financial planning.

Beginning in May 2007, with the advice and assistance of legal counsel, her financial adviser, and a social worker at Brooksby Village, Ansin began the process of transferring four assets to Spinnato outside of probate: the Brooksby Village deposit, a Salem Five account, an Eastern Bank account, and a Hartford Annuity /UBS Investment account. Ansin made Spinnato a joint owner of the two bank accounts, and executed a transfer-on-death agreement for the UBS investment account instructing that upon her death Waldrop should receive 30 percent of the account and Spinnato should receive 70 percent. The transfers were executed with the proper formalities.

On January 24, 2008, Ansin executed a Second Codicil to her will which made Spinnato the sole beneficiary of the Brooksby Village deposit and removed Pucillo as a beneficiary. Goldman drafted and notarized the codicil, and indicated that there was nothing improper about the change. He was also aware of the transfer agreements that had been executed for the Salem Five and Eastern Bank accounts, and indicated to Spinnato and Ansin that those transfers were legal and proper.

Between 2008 and 2011, Spinnato and Ansin continued their friendship, and Goldman occasionally checked in with Ansin regarding her estate planning. No further changes were made to her will.

II. Probate and Dispute with Texas Heirs

Ansin died on March 26, 2011. Spinnato informed Goldman of Ansin's death, and Goldman said that he would handle the probate of the estate. Goldman encouraged Spinnato to hire Betsy Rooks as the estate attorney, but did not disclose that Rooks is his daughter. Spinnato hired her, and paid the requested retainer.

On April 26, 2011, Rooks filed with the Probate Court a petition for Probate of the Will, Bond of Executors, and the Will with Codicils. She represented that the will and codicils were valid documents, and informed the court that the estate was worth less than $50,000 because of the assets that had already been properly transferred outside of probate. On July 7, 2011, Rooks informed the Probate Court that all interested parties, including Ansin's heirs in Texas, had received notice of the petition for probate and had not objected. The court approved the will and codicils, and the appointment of Goldman and Spinnato as co-executors, on October 25, 2011.

Unbeknownst to Spinnato, shortly after Ansin's death Goldman contacted her Texas relatives and alleged that Spinnato wrongfully transferred Ansin's assets away from them outside of probate when Ansin was either incompetent or subject to Spinnato's undue influence. Goldman also put the Texas relatives in contact with a Massachusetts attorney who could help them prepare a case against Spinnato for undue influence. Goldman assisted the Texas heirs and their attorneys in preparing their case by using his position as co-executor to obtain documents from UBS, Salem Five, and Eastern Bank, and sharing those documents with them. Goldman told them that the value of Ansin's estate actually exceeded $1 million. During this period, Goldman took no action to close the estate, and did not disclose to Spinnato any of his communications with the Texas heirs.

In May 2012, the Texas heirs filed suit against Spinnato in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, alleging that he had instigated the transfer of the UBS, Salem Five, and Eastern Bank accounts and the Brooksby Village deposit via undue influence. In the litigation, Goldman signed an affidavit setting forth facts which supported the heirs' claim. In a deposition, he initially testified that he “didn't think [Ansin] was under duress” from Spinnato, but on the following day he stated: “I thought she was under undue influence from the day I met Mr. Spinnato.” Goldman also made statements suggesting Ansin was not competent to execute the legal documents that transferred her assets to Spinnato. Other witnesses in the case, such as Waldrop, Ansin's physician, her social worker, and her friends from Brooksby Village, testified that they believed Ansin was competent to make her own decisions and that they never observed her to be under any duress from her relationship with Spinnato.

As a result of the information Goldman provided to the heirs, which independently corroborated the claim of undue influence, Spinnato was unable to secure dismissal of the suit against him and instead opted for mediation. He agreed to a settlement in which he would pay a portion of the non-probate assets to the Texas heirs. He states that but for Goldman's conduct, he would not have had to settle the case for any amount.

Spinnato filed suit against Goldman alleging breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent misrepresentation, and tortious interference with the expectancy of a gift.¹ Spinnato also seeks contribution for a portion of the amount he paid to settle the Texas heirs' undue influence suit. He alleges $300,000 in damages. Goldman has moved to dismiss all of Spinnato's claims.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

To survive a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient facts which “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The court “must take the allegations in the complaint as true and must make all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiffs.” Watterson v. Page, 987 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1993). Dismissal for failure to state a claim is appropriate where the pleadings fail to set forth “factual allegations, either direct or inferential, respecting each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable legal theory.” Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 515 (1st Cir.1988). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

Typically on a motion to dismiss, the deciding court cannot consider information outside the four corners of the complaint. See Watterson, 987 F.2d at 3. The First Circuit recognizes “narrow exceptions” to this rule “for documents the authenticity of which are...