In McGeoghean v. McGeoghean, Case No. 10-P-407, 2011 Mass. App.
Unpub. LEXIS 936 (Aug. 3, 2011), a decision issued pursuant to Rule
1:28, the Appeals Court affirmed the superior court's judgment
in all respects. The complicated facts of this case are not fully
apparent from the decision, but the Court held that the superior
court's findings of fact and conclusions of law were not
clearly erroneous. Two issues in particular bear noting.
First, the Appeals Court affirmed the superior court's
finding that the plaintiff John McGeoghean was entitled to quantum
meruit damages in compensation for his actions in reliance on the
oral promise of his mother, the decedent, to give him certain
property and her interest in a business. The superior court did not
specify whether the oral promise was one to make an inter vivos
gift or a bequest in her will. Consequently, the Court held that
the superior court, in awarding quantum meruit damages, had not
impermissibly remade the
