Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Rhode Island
Legal Malpractice
My mom divorced back in 1989 and in the settlement was entitled to an apportionment of my Dad's government retirement (Annuity). They were married for 30 years and he worked for the government there entire marriage. My Dad passed away last Jan. When he died the government also stopped sending my Mom's portion. Since she was a stay at home mom for 6 kids and my Dad did not pay into soc. sec. she is financially devastated. The government stated that it was not in the divorce decree that he would need to have survivor benefits and he did not elect for them, therefore she has no more benefits.
Is there a case for legal malpractice against my mom's divorce lawyer? She was unaware that her annuity would end at my Dad's death. It was never explained to her and basically he just didn't address death at all in the divorce.
The government stated that if it had been in the divorce decree that this would override the government policy. Since it was not there is nothing she can do.
She is now currently 68 years old and finds herself trying to live on $250 a month social security and no medical except for part B medicare which is taken out each month.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Legal Divorce Malpractice and the statute of limitations in Rhode Island
There are a lot of obstacles involved in pursuing this case. The statute of limitations for legal malpractice is 3 years. However, it may be possible to claim that she did not discover the malpractice until recently and therefore the statute of limitations should be extended (tolled) until she knew or should have known of the malpractice. Also, your mom would need to prove that she was not informed of this survivor beneficiary option years before. The next question is, who is the attorney / lawyer and did he have legal insurance at the time of the alleged malpractice. This is a case that I Would be interested in discussing with your mother. I do both litigation and divorce and family law in Rhode Island RI.
David Slepkow
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