Attorney Sued After Estate Plan Mistake Costs Heirs $845K

You can have the perfect will—and still completely blow your estate plan.

That’s the hard lesson from Wisniewski v. Palermino, a 2025 decision from the Connecticut Supreme Court that should be required reading for anyone with a bank account, brokerage account, or, quite frankly, anyone with strong feelings about who should get their hard-earned stuff after they die.

Because here’s the truth: your will doesn’t control everything. Not even close. And if you or your lawyer don’t realize that, things can go sideways fast.

A Fateful Mistake, a Very Costly “Oops”

Let’s start with what went wrong.

Edward Wisniewski hired an attorney in 2018 to put together an estate plan. He said he wanted to split his TD Ameritrade account (worth a cool $845,000 and change) five ways: between his daughter, three grandchildren, and a longtime friend.

The lawyer said, essentially, “No problem. I’ll write that in the will.” Wisniewski died the next month.

And here’s the kicker: that TD Ameritrade account? It already had a named beneficiary, but only one: his daughter. No one changed that. So despite what the will said, the entire account skipped probate and went straight to her.

The three grandchildren and the friend? They got nothing. Oops. But an avoidable oops.

Probate vs. Non-Probate: Why It Matters

This is where a lot of people – and clearly at least one lawyer – get tripped up.

Here’s the basic rule:

• Probate assets go through your will.
• Non-probate assets go wherever the beneficiary designation says they go. Period. End of story. No takebacks. No re-do. That’s that.

Think retirement accounts, life insurance, and brokerage accounts. If you’ve named a beneficiary (and most of us have, even if we did it years ago and forgot), that asset bypasses the will entirely. It doesn’t matter what the will says.

So if your will says “split my account evenly,” but your account says “give it all to my daughter,” your daughter’s getting the whole thing.

That’s exactly what happened here.

So Who Got Sued?

The three people left out—two grandkids and a friend—sued the attorney. They claimed he blew it by not telling Wisniewski that he needed to update the beneficiary designation on his brokerage account if he wanted it to go to more than one person.

They sued for legal malpractice and breach of contract. The trial court threw the case out, saying the plaintiffs didn’t have standing—they weren’t the attorney’s clients, and Connecticut law historically didn’t allow third-party beneficiaries to sue estate lawyers unless the lawyer messed up the will itself.

But on appeal, the Connecticut Supreme Court said Hold your horses, doggie. Not those words exactly, but pretty much.

The Court’s Take

In a major shift (but one the court insists is narrow), the justices said an attorney can owe a duty to someone who isn’t their client (in this case, the intended beneficiaries) if the client clearly intended to benefit them, and the attorney’s mistake prevented that from happening.

In plain English: If you tell your lawyer you want five people to get an account, and the lawyer says “just put it in your will,” but doesn’t explain that the will won’t touch that account unless you change the beneficiary… that’s a problem. And it might just be legal malpractice.

The Court laid out a list of factors to consider:

• Was the primary purpose of the legal work to benefit third parties?
• Was the harm foreseeable?
• How close was the attorney’s conduct to the harm?
• Are there public policy reasons to impose a duty?
• Would this unduly burden the legal profession?

In Wisniewski, the majority said yes to enough of those questions to let the malpractice claim go forward.

“No, Hold Your Horses, Doggie,” Because Not Everyone Agreed

Three justices dissented. They warned that this kind of ruling could erode the attorney-client relationship and force lawyers to worry about future lawsuits from people they’ve never even met. They pointed out that there’s no guarantee the TD Ameritrade account was the biggest or only asset – and that the complaint didn’t clearly say as much.

Their concern? That we’re creeping toward a world where lawyers can be sued by anyone disappointed by an estate plan, even if that person was never a client.

Massachusetts, by the way, still takes a stricter view. In Miller v. Mooney, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said flat-out that estate planning lawyers owe no duty to intended beneficiaries – only to their clients. So don’t expect this kind of case to fly in the Bay State… at least not yet.

What This Means for You (Yes, You, Doggie)

Whether you’re planning your estate or advising someone who is, this case drives home a crucial point:
A will is not a magic document that overrides everything else.

If you want your assets to go where you intend, you must know which assets pass through your will (probate) and which don’t (non-probate).

That means:

• Checking all your beneficiary designations.
• Making sure those match your estate plan.
• Talking to a lawyer who doesn’t just draft a will, but looks at your whole financial picture.

Because the saddest thing in estate planning is when someone takes the time, spends the money, and still gets it wrong—just because of a missed beneficiary form.

Wisniewski v. Palermino might be a turning point in Connecticut law, but even more importantly, it’s a wake-up call for anyone doing estate planning.

If your lawyer isn’t asking you about your account titles and beneficiary designations, ask them. And if you haven’t checked those designations in a while, now’s the time.

The difference between getting it right and getting it really, really wrong might come down to one piece of paperwork.

Need Help Getting It Right?

If you’re unsure whether your assets will actually follow your wishes—or if it’s been a while since anyone looked at your beneficiary designations—it’s time for a review. I help individuals and families in Connecticut and Massachusetts build clear, effective estate plans that actually work.

Schedule a consultation today and ensure that you and your loved ones – the right loved ones – are protected. Let’s make sure your estate plan doesn’t just look good on paper— but that it works the way you need it to. Protect yourself. Protect your family. Give me a call.

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