Simpson v. Calivas
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
650 A.2d 318 (1994)
Attorney Calivas (defendant) drafted a will for Robert Simpson Sr. that devised the 'homestead' to his second wife as a life estate with the remainder to son Robert Simpson Jr. (plaintiff), but Calivas's own meeting notes indicated Simpson Sr. meant only the house (not all Piscataqua Road property) to go to his wife; the probate court, without considering those notes, construed 'homestead' to mean all the Piscataqua Road property, and Simpson Jr. then sued Calivas for malpractice, with the trial court granting summary judgment on collateral estoppel grounds and directing a verdict on the theory that no duty ran from Calivas to Simpson Jr. absent privity.
Whether a duty runs from an attorney who drafts a will to the intended beneficiaries of that will, allowing an identified intended beneficiary to enforce the attorney-testator contract as a third-party beneficiary.