Latest Case: De Prins v. Michaeles (Trusts & Estates)

He Said/She Said, Save Our Sons, and the Stories that Stick: Part Two of a Two-Part Series of Columns

SHERRY F. COLB

In this second in a series of columns on the U.S. Department of Education’s recent push toward a higher burden of proof in determinations of sexual harassment or assault under Title IX, Cornell Law professor Sherry F. Colb suggests that gendered narratives play a role in people’s willingness to regard an acquaintance rape case as “he said/she said.” Colb describes several examples in which people prefer a story that confirms a pre-existing bias over truth based on evidence.

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De Prins v. Michaeles

Docket: SJC-12865

Opinion Date: October 20, 2020

Judge: Cypher

Areas of Law: Trusts & Estates

The Supreme Judicial Court answered a question certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, holding that the assets of a self-settled discretionary spendthrift irrevocable trust governed by Massachusetts law are not protected from a reach and apply action by the deceased settlor's creditors. Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court concluded that, based on the circumstances presented in this case and consistent with the well-established public policy of the Commonwealth, when a settlor creates a self-settled spendthrift irrevocable trust that is governed by Massachusetts law and that allowed unlimited distributions to the settlor during his lifetime, and a judgment-creditor's cause of action accrues prior to the settlor's death, a judgment-creditor of the settlor's estate may reach and apply the trust's assets after the settlor's death.