Rhode Island Real Estate Lawyer Blog

In 1989, the Rhode Island Supreme Court decided an important case in Rhode Island family law, particularly within the realm of admissible evidence. Petitioners appealed a family court decree granting a petition to terminate parental rights filed by the Department of Children and Their Families (DCF). The petitioners had three children, but their parental rights…

In a recent Rhode Island estate law case, six trust beneficiaries (collectively, ‘respondents’) moved to dismiss the petitioner’s petition for declaratory relief or, in the alternative, to either amend the trust or allow the other beneficiaries to disclaim their interest in the petitioner’s share of the trust. Petitioner sought to permit his adopted son—whom he…

In a recent Rhode Island family law case, the defendant appealed from a family court decision following a divorce proceeding. The trial judge found the marital estate to be essentially nonexistent, and further found that a majority of the disputed assets belonged squarely to the plaintiff. Defendant disagreed, arguing that the trial judge erred in…

In 1995, the Rhode Island Supreme Court recognized for the first time the tort of negligent misrepresentation in the context of Rhode Island adoption law. Two parents alleged that their adoption agency misrepresented and omitted material information concerning the adopted child’s medical and family history. In an important decision, the state supreme court ruled that…

In the early 2000s, a Florida resident (plaintiff) attempted to establish that a Rhode Island resident (defendant) was the natural father of her minor child, CMH. Defendant filed for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff’s former husband was determined to be the father of CMH based on a Florida divorce judgment. In May 2002, the…

In the early 2000’s, a Rhode Island woman appealed from a family court order terminating her parental rights to six of her seven children. The case came before the Rhode Island Supreme Court on October 1, 2002. The state high court affirmed the family court decree, reasoning that the respondent demonstrated an unwillingness to keep…

The Rhode Island Superior Court recently issued an opinion regarding a Rhode Island real estate construction contract. Following the jury-waived trial on February 2, 2018, each side submitted post-trial memoranda to the Rhode Island Superior Court for decision. The court issued partial judgment in favor of the plaintiff on February 19, 2018. In 2008, defendant…

This summer, the United States Supreme Court held that a state court may not force a veteran to reimburse a divorced spouse for the forfeiture in the divorce spouse’s share of the veteran’s retirement pay where the forfeiture is caused by the veteran’s waiver of retirement pay to receive service-related disability benefits. This is a…

This summer, a plaintiff appealed to the Rhode Island Supreme Court a bench trial judgment for defendant, GEICO, in an underinsured motorist (UM) insurance case. Plaintiff was injured after leaving her car to provide aid to victims of a car crash. The state high court held that the plaintiff was entitled to UM coverage under…

In 1990, the Rhode Island Supreme Court considered for the first time the rights of parents whose legal presumption of paternity is later challenged during a divorce proceeding. The court held that the mother was equitably estopped from using genetic blood testing to disestablish a child’s paternity in connection with a divorce proceeding. Petitioner and…