Idaho Supreme Court: Attorney's Duty of Care to a Testamentary Beneficiary is to Effectuate the Testator's Intent Expressed in the Testamentary Instrument

The Idaho Supreme Court has held that an attorney did not breach his duty of care owed to a testamentary beneficiary when he drafted a will bequeathing beneficial interests in a trust a beneficiary when the testator had no interests in the trust.  According to the court, an attorney only owes testamentary beneficiaries a duty to effectuate the testator's intent; attorneys have no duty to make sure testators dispose of property in certain ways or monitor the legal status of property described in the will. The court explained that the testator's unambiguous intent was to leave the beneficiary an interest in the trust, if one existed, and that it was immaterial to the breach of duty claim whether the testator intended to bequeath the interest differently than what was expressed in the will.

See Soignier v. Fletcher, No. 37123 (Idaho 2011).

Posted by Brian Spring, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.