About Nadine M. Catalfimo, Attorney at Law
Trust & Estate Attorney Serving New Hampshire and Massachusetts
Nadine M. Catalfimo is an estate planning and trust attorney licensed in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. With more than 30 years in the legal profession, including 17 years practicing law and 20 years working as a paralegal, she assists individuals and families with estate planning, probate administration, and trust administration. Her practice focuses on helping clients protect their assets, carry out their wishes, and navigate complex trust and estate matters. Her extensive experience provided her with a practical understanding of the administration of estates and trusts, skills, and the preparation of estate-planning documents.
Nadine subsequently served for more than eight years as a fiduciary administrator at Proskauer Rose LLP in Boca Raton, Florida, where she administered high-net-worth estates and trusts. She also worked at the McLane Law Firm in Manchester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she drafted both complex and straightforward estate plans.
Nadine graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover in 2008, where she earned her law degree. She received her undergraduate degree in paralegal studies from Rivier College, graduating Summa Cum Laude.
Trust, Estate and Probate Experience:
Nadine's practice focuses on matters involving:
- Estate planning
- Revocable and irrevocable trusts
- Trust administration
- Probate and estate administration
- Estate and trust-related matters
- Wills and other estate-planning documents
- Complex estate tax planning for high-net-worth individuals
- Other matters involving the transfer and administration of assets
Her experience working with estates and trusts extends from straightforward matters to complex estates requiring careful planning, administration and attention to detail.
Published Legal Author
Nadine is also a published legal author. Her writings have appeared in the New Hampshire Bar Journal and NH Bar News, and she has contributed to the NH Practice series, a practitioner’s guide used by New Hampshire attorneys.
Her published work includes:
“Beware Trust and Estate Attorneys, An Expression of Intent to Amend a Trust by Emails May Be a Trust Amendment under the New Hampshire Trust Code”
Co-authored with Attorney Lisa J. Bellanti, New Hampshire Bar News, June 15, 2022
“In Re Marie G. Dow, The NH Supreme Court Holds that a Choice of Law Provision is not Enforceable to a Pretermitted Claim”
Co-authored with Attorney Lisa J. Bellanti, New Hampshire Bar News, 2021
“Estate Creditors: To Pay or Not to Pay”
New Hampshire Bar News, March 15, 2023
“Closing the Loopholes – New Laws for ‘In Terrorem’ (No Contest) Clauses in Wills and Trusts”
Co-authored with Attorney Charles A. DeGrandpre, New Hampshire Bar Journal, Autumn December 11, 2011
“10 Basic Estate Planning Tips”
New Hampshire Bar News, March 16, 2012
“Ten Tips for Your Postnup Practice”
Co-authored with Attorney Charles A. DeGrandpre, New Hampshire Bar News, November 15, 2013
“To Be or Not to Be: Postnuptial Agreements in New Hampshire”
Co-authored with Attorney Charles A. DeGrandpre, New Hampshire Bar Journal, Autumn 2008, Volume 49, No. 2.
Nadine also assisted Attorneys Charles A. DeGrandpre and William V.A. Zorn with updating and editing Volumes 10 and 11 of the NH Practice series, a treatise on Probate Law: Administration of Estates, Trusts, and Guardianships, for the 2007–2010 editions.
Her published work reflects her longstanding involvement in New Hampshire trust, estate, probate and related legal matters.
NH Supreme Court Case Results:
In re Estate of Marie G. Dow, 174 N.H. 37, 260 A.3d 1 (NH 2021), New Hampshire Supreme Court | Docket No. 2019-0752
Nadine M. Catalfimo represented the petitioner in In re Estate of Marie G. Dow, a New Hampshire Supreme Court case involving the application of New Hampshire’s pretermitted heir statute to a will that contained a Massachusetts choice of law provision.
The decedent had executed her will while living in Massachusetts and subsequently moved to New Hampshire, where she was domiciled at the time of her death. Her will provided that her estate was to be administered and enforced according to Massachusetts law. After her death, her son sought recognition as a pretermitted heir under New Hampshire law. The New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed the probate court's initial decision to apply Massachusetts law. The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that because the decedent was domiciled in New Hampshire at the time of death, and the Last Will disposed of only personal property, New Hampshire’s pretermitted heir statute, NH RSA 551: 10, applied. The court further held that the petitioner was a pretermitted heir under New Hampshire law and was entitled to an intestate share of the estate, and was remanded back to the lower court for further proceedings.
Nadine M. Catalfimo was listed as co-counsel for the petitioner in the New Hampshire Supreme Court's published opinion and worked on the brief and legal research and analysis. Attorney Lisa J. Bellanti argued the matter orally before the court. See the court’s published decision here.
Why this case matters: The decision provides guidance concerning the interaction between a Will's choice of law provision and New Hampshire statutory protections for pretermitted heirs when a testator changes domicile before death. It also illustrates the importance of reviewing and potentially updating estate planning documents when a person changes their domicile from one state to another.
Professional Memberships and Community Involvement:
Nadine is a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association's sections devoted to elder law, estate planning and probate. She is also a member of the Real Property, Trusts and Estates section of the American Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association.
She previously served as a Board Member of Salemhaven Nursing Home in Salem, New Hampshire, from 2014 through 2016.
Licensed in New Hampshire and Massachusetts
Nadine is licensed to practice law in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Her office is located at:
282 Main Street, Suite 211
Salem, New Hampshire 03079
Primary/Main Office: New Hampshire: (603) 952-4491
Massachusetts: (978) 364-0805
Nadine provides legal services with an emphasis on personal attention, careful analysis and practical advice. Her firm is committed to providing quality legal services in an efficient manner and offers unbundled legal services in appropriate matters to help clients manage legal costs.