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Wills, Trusts & Estates Keyed to Bonfield
Clark v. Greenhalge
Citation:
582 N.E.2d 949 (Mass. 1991)Facts
Helen Nesmith executed a will in 1977, naming Frederic Greenhalge as executor and designating Greendale as the principal beneficiary of her tangible personal property, except for items specified in a separate memorandum or her known wishes. She maintained a 1972 memorandum, later amended in 1976, listing bequests of personal property, but the memorandum did not include a farm scene painting. Nesmith also kept a notebook in which she periodically recorded her intended distributions, including an entry stating that the painting should go to Virginia Clark.
Clark and Nesmith had a longstanding friendship, and Nesmith verbally confirmed her intent to bequeath the painting to Clark, mentioning she would record it in her notebook. Despite this, Greenhalge, as executor, refused to give Clark the painting after Nesmith’s death in 1986, stating he was not bound by the notebook’s entries. However, he did distribute to himself other property listed in the notebook. Clark subsequently sued Greenhalge to compel him to turn over the painting.
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