Estate of Michael F. Cassiere v. Joseph Cassiere, 246 A.3d 391

In 2006 Carmen Neumann created a revocable trust naming herself trustee and her sons Michael and Joseph Cassiere as successor cotrustees; she transferred a Florida condominium into the trust.
Neumann died in 2010; the trust directed immediate equal distribution to her two sons and payment of debts should not postpone distribution.
The trust remained undistributed for years; Michael (plaintiff) alleges Joseph (defendant) refused to agree to sell, failed to maintain the property, and neglected taxes/mortgage; Michael paid expenses and engaged an agent and accountant.
Michael sued to sell the property, terminate the trust, remove Joseph as trustee, and recover reimbursement; Joseph counterclaimed for breach of fiduciary duty and sought removal and an accounting.
The court authorized sale without Joseph’s signature (Feb. 1, 2018); sale proceeds were escrowed. Michael moved for summary judgment and sought reimbursement of $9,023.45; Joseph objected but produced no substantive evidence despite a Rule 56(f) continuance.
The Superior Court granted summary judgment for the Estate on the counterclaim, ordered reimbursement and equal distribution of remaining corpus ($135,565.73); Joseph appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether summary judgment on defendant's counterclaim for breach of fiduciary duty was improper because material facts were disputed	Michael: Joseph produced no competent evidence; burden on Joseph to show a material dispute; court gave continuance he did not use	Joseph: Tax returns and expense entries create disputed material facts and support breach/damages	Affirmed — summary judgment proper; Joseph failed to present admissible evidence or damages despite Rule 56(f) opportunity
Whether trust language required turning over trust assets to Joseph (cotrustee) for distribution	Michael/Estate: distribution was proper after resolution of claims and sale proceeds were escrowed; no outstanding claims remained	Joseph: Plain trust language requires successor trustee (him) to receive and distribute assets	Affirmed — distribution appropriate; Joseph forfeited claim and intent-of-settlor language supports immediate distribution to beneficiaries
Whether trial justice erred by relying on plaintiff’s post-decision affidavit of reimbursement expenses	Michael/Estate: Joseph did not object at hearing and acquiesced when court sought his preference; objection is waived on appeal	Joseph: Affidavit was filed after judgment and cannot be considered	Affirmed — issue waived under raise-or-waive rule; no timely objection made

Glassie v. Doucette, 157 A.3d 1092 (de novo standard of review for summary judgment)
Sullo v. Greenberg, 68 A.3d 404 (party opposing summary judgment must produce competent evidence of a material factual dispute)
Brochu v. Santis, 939 A.2d 449 (opponent cannot rely on mere allegations or conclusions to defeat summary judgment)
Jaffe v. Pournaras, 178 A.3d 978 (primary objective in trust construction is to effectuate settlor's intent using plain language)
Rohena v. City of Providence, 154 A.3d 935 (raise-or-waive rule; litigants must preserve objections below to raise on appeal)