Galligan & Biscay v. Galligan CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Prior Litigation On October 29, 2008, Joseph A. Galligan and Gail M. Galligan executed a trust declaration establishing The Joseph A. Galligan and Gail M. Galligan 2008 Living Trust (Trust). Joseph died on July 16, 2010, leaving Gail as the sole trustee. Gail resigned as

1 Because this litigation involves multiple members of the Galligan family, some with the same surname, we refer to defendant siblings individually as Joe and Maureen, and to their brother Patrick by his surname, to avoid confusion, meaning no disrespect to the parties. trustee on August 6, 2010, and Bruce Van Alstyne, the named successor trustee, consented to serve (trustee). On September 5, 2010, Gail died. The Trust provided that upon the deaths of Joseph and Gail, their estate would be divided for the benefit of six of their eight surviving children (including defendants Joe and Maureen) and four of their grandchildren, and specifically disinherited Joseph and Gail’s other two children, Patrick and Timothy. Joseph was a shareholder in G&B during his lifetime. G&B was formed on or about August 31, 1976. Under the terms of Joseph’s pour-over will, his interest in the law firm was to be…