Skip to Main Content

Overview

Ann Hetherwick "Hether" represents beneficiaries and fiduciaries in fiduciary, probate and trust disputes. Her practice focuses on probate, trust, equity, guardianships, and conservatorship litigation. Hether also serves as trustee of private trusts and personal representative of estates. Hether advises clients at every stage of litigation, sometimes avoiding litigation entirely or resolving issues through mediation. As a former law clerk of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, she brings her strong writing skills and knowledge of the appellate process to contested matters, trials, and appeals. Above all, Hether appreciates that clients are often going through a difficult time of their lives and their legal and emotional needs are unique. Hether handles wide-ranging probate and trust disputes, including:

  • trustee removal actions, defense and prosecution;
  • will contests and trust invalidity actions involving undue influence, lack of capacity, and/or formation issues;
  • trust modification, termination, reformation, cy pres, and/or interpretation actions;
  • accounting actions;
  • omitted spouse or child actions, including DNA and exhumation issues;
  • equity actions involving real estate;
  • complaints for instructions and/or declaratory judgment actions;
  • divorce, including issues whether a trust is divisible as a marital asset;
  • conservatorships, including expanded authority to perform estate planning; and
  • guardianships and financial exploitation.

Education and Credentials

Education

  • Suffolk University Law School, J.D.
  • Skidmore College, B.A.

Admissions

  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Affiliations

  • Massachusetts Bar Association
  • Massachusetts Law Review, Editor-in-Chief, 2023–Present; Articles Editor, 2020–2023; Case Comment Editor, 2017-2020; Book Review Editor, 2015–2017; Associate Editor, 2014–2015
  • Boston Bar Association, Fiduciary Litigation Section, Co-Chair, 2018-2020
  • Boston Bar Association Steering Committee for the Beacon Award for Diversity and Inclusion, 2019
  • Boston Chamber of Commerce Women's Leadership Program, 2016-2017
  • Boston Probate and Estate Planning Forum
  • Boston Estate Planning Council
  • Trusts and Estates Consortium, Technology Co-Chair, 2016-2018

Recognition and Community

No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the highest court of any state. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. See Awards Methodology.

Recognitions

Selected to The Best Lawyers in America list of Ones to Watch (Woodward/White, Inc.) for Family Law, 2024-2025; Litigation – Trusts and Estates, 2024-2025

Selected to the list of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's "Top Women of Law," 2020

Selected to the list of Massachusetts Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), Estate and Trust Litigation, 2020-2024

Selected to the list of Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Stars (Thomson Reuters), Estate and Trust Litigation, 2009, 2011-2012, 2017-2018

Participated in the Boston Chamber of Commerce Women's Leadership Program, 2016-2017

Community Involvement

The Mount, Boston Committee

Certified Bar Association of Norfolk County Pro Bono Conciliator

Ran Boston Marathon with Team Brookline, 2019

In The Media

Publications

Media Mentions

Speaking Engagements

View all

EMAIL DISCLAIMER

Thank you for your interest in contacting us by email.

Your e-mail to this individual should not contain any confidential information and should be for general information purposes only. An attorney-client relationship will not be created by your e-mail to this individual. Information in your e-mail may not be entitled to any protections commonly associated with communications with attorneys. If you are in doubt about any information, please exclude it.

If you accept the terms of this notice and would like to send an email, click on the "I Agree" button below. Otherwise, please click "I Don't Agree".