BELFAST, Maine — The Waldo County Probate Court has issued a ruling that could shape the future of Young’s Lobster Pound, the iconic Belfast waterfront business. The Aug. 8 order from the court names Raymond Young the sole personal representative of his father’s estate.
Robert R. Young owned and operated Young’s Seafood until his retirement in 2000. Since that time his youngest son, Raymond, has operated the business.
The elder Young died in 2017, leaving behind a will dated Sept. 6, 2000. Following his death, two of his children, Robert F. Young and Dianne (Young) Parker, filed a document with the court which they alleged to be a handwritten will made by their father the day before he died.
The handwritten will purported to cut Raymond Young out of the estate, and to award significant estate assets to Robert F. Young, who had been with his father the day before his death, when the handwritten will was allegedly written.
The handwritten will stated: “the lease agreement for Young’s Lobster Pound will not be renewed. Raymond, wife and extended family shall no longer be employed at Young’s Lobster Pound. All Young’s property and equipment shall be auctioned off (in 2018) to the highest bidder. All proceeds after taxes shall go to Dana Farber Hospital ‘in memory of my loving wife of 62 years.’ All stocks and bonds in (Robert R. Young’s) name shall be diverted to this charity.”
The handwritten will also passed ownership of Robert R. Young’s Fairview Lane residence in Belfast to Dianne (Young) Parker.
In its examination of the handwritten will, the Probate Court observed the handwritten will consisted of five pages. The court found that three of the pages were not written at the same time.
The court also found several differences in the signature of Robert R. Young, writing inconsistent with his signature on other significant documents.
Additionally, the court found it difficult to fathom that Robert R. Young would have changed his will without first notifying all those closest to him. This contention was bolstered by Robert R. Young’s attorney, Lee Woodward. Woodward told the court Robert R. Young would have informed both him and accountant Michael Nickerson — both part of his “team” — about any major changes to his will.
In fact, Woodward said he met with Robert R. Young to discuss his will following his wife’s death in July 2017, just a few months before he supposedly wrote the handwritten will. Woodward said, at that time, Robert R. Young expressed no intent to change his will “in any significant way other than to ‘throw a bone’ to (Robert F. Young).”
The court’s order stated, “it is difficult to reach any other conclusion than that (Robert R. Young) would not have made a ‘final’ last Will and Testament without discussing the matter first with his ‘team’ — his attorney, his accountant, his pastor, or (Raymond) of his purported change in his estate plans.”
The Probate Court determined Young’s will, signed Sept. 6, 2000, to be a valid document at law, further determining that “the 2017 holographic (handwritten) document is not allowed” and Robert F. Young and Dianne (Young) Parker’s “petition is denied.”
The court’s decision paves the way for an end to family strife dating back at least eight years. Whether the decision is final is unclear. Both Robert F. Young and Dianne Parker have avenues to appeal the decision in Superior Court or the Maine Law Court.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
