PHILADELPHIA – A Florida man has filed a lawsuit seeking to redress a grievance surrounding the alleged inequitable distribution of assets from his mother’s will to himself and his two siblings, one of whom is a defendant.
John R. Greisiger filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Feb. 15 versus High Swartz, LLP, Kathleen Thomas Esq. and Judith Loughlin, all of Pennsylvania.
“Ruth Greisiger is the mother of three adult children, Judith Loughlin, Arthur Greisiger and plaintiff John R. Greisiger. Ruth passed away on Sept. 10, 2021. Her last will was purportedly written and signed on May 7, 2019. The will was written by the law firm of High Swartz and attorney Thomas. Attorney Thomas was one of two witnesses to the execution and notarization of the will. High Swartz and Thomas were engaged to accomplish Ruth’s long-stated intention to equally distribute her assets within and outside of a will equally amongst her children,” the suit says.
“It was common knowledge amongst her three children, as stated from time to time by Ruth herself, that she intended to distribute her remaining assets equally to her children, even though some assets were to be dedicated to one child or another. Nevertheless, her intention was that in the end, her probate and non-probate assets were to be equally distributed to her children. By May of 2019, Ruth was in poor physical and mental health, and required extensive care and treatment. Care and treatment for her physical and mental conditions required payment over and above any available insurance coverage. Payment was funded through Ruth’s existing assets, which included investments and trusts.”
The suit explained that prior to May 2019, she parted ways with her prior counsel and was then brought to High Swartz and Thomas – who created the will, accounted for all of her assets and created the necessary documents to achieve that objective.
The suit is further dedicated to righting a “scheme that failed to accomplish the equal distribution of Ruth’s assets to her children.”
“The utter failure of High Swartz, attorney Thomas and defendant Loughlin, to the extent defendant Loughlin was bound to achieve the intentions and objective of Ruth to equally distribute her assets to her children, constitutes a breach of contractual duties and obligations, and that is compounded and complicated by the conduct of defendant Loughlin, who used undue influence to deny plaintiff’s rights to an equal hare of Ruth’s assets,” the suit states.
For multiple counts of breach of contract, tortious interference with an inheritance or expectancy and concert of action to interfere with same, the plaintiff is seeking judgment in personum equal to the value of one-third of Rute’s non-probate estate against each defendant, an award of damages, including punitive damages, to be established at trial, interest, costs and such further relief as this Court may deem just and equitable.
The plaintiff is represented by Richard J. Gerace of Gerace Law Office, in Philadelphia.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:22-cv-00591
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com