Carmine Perri

Principal

Carmine Perri will protect your rights. He will defend you against nursing facilities that commence collection actions. He will represent you in will contests, conservatorships, and other contested Probate matters. He will hold accountable those who are responsible for financial exploitation and elder abuse. And, because he knows how Medicaid works, he knows what it takes to win a Medicaid case for you. His goal, put simply, is to protect your rights.

Carmine represents individuals from all over the country as well as internationally.

Carmine loves research, writing and oral argument. He also appreciates the opportunity to represent clients in matters that affect their lives. When he’s not in the office or fighting in court for our clients, Carmine enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons, running, or cycling.

Elder Law Litigation

• Paul Valliere et al. v. Commissioner of Social Services, SC 19701– The Department of Social Services appealed a Superior Court decision (J. Noble) that stated, “pursuant to [federal law, state law] as well as the commissioner’s own policy manual, the department is obliged to adopt a Probate Court order (J. Mahon) awarding a CSA [Community Spouse Allowance] where the order predates an institutionalized person’s application for Medicaid.” The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Probate Court did not exceed its authority under section 45a-655 by ordering community spouse support in an amount that exceeded that which the Department of Social Services could order pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1396r-5. This case has wide-ranging implications regarding Medicaid eligibility and the practice of law within our state’s Probate Courts.
• Before the Connecticut Supreme Court, Carmine successfully defended a client against a proposed collection tactic by a nursing facility (Wilton Meadows Limited Partnership vs. Sally Coratolo). The client’s husband was a resident of the facility and was unable to pay for the first months of his stay. About 6 months after his death, the facility sued Sally Coratolo, claiming that she was liable for her husband’s debt. Carmine argued before the Supreme Court on Sally’s behalf and won. This case is an important one because it shows that nursing facilities are looking for alternative grounds for recovery beyond the admission agreement and it underscores the Court’s intention to prevent the admission agreement from requiring third party guarantors of payment.
• In an April 2023 decision, after a 4-day Fair Hearing, Attorney Perri, on behalf of his client, successfully advocated for the reduction of a $872K transfer penalty imposed by the Department of Social Services. The Fair Hearing Officer’s decision stated, in part, “There is clear and convincing evidence that the transfers were made for a purpose other than qualifying for assistance therefore the Department’s action to assign a penalty is not correct.” The final decision was made that the applicant’s appeal was granted.

Will Contests

• In an October 2025 decision, Attorney Perri successfully prevented the admission of a purported Will to probate.  Attorney Perri’s client, the contestant, argued that the decedent (his mother) lacked testamentary capacity to execute the purported Will, was subjected to undue influence, and that the purported Will did not comport with statutory requirements.  After a trial, the Probate Court did not admit the purported Will finding that the petitioner did not satisfy her burden of proof regarding testamentary capacity.
• In a September 2025 decision, Attorney Perri successfully represented his client, the named Executrix in her late grandmother’s Will, in a will contest brought by a Contestant who objected to the admission of the Will on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence.  The Court found that the Contestant failed to present evidence to support his claims and, as a result, appointed Attorney Perri’s client as Executrix and ordered that the Will be admitted to probate.
• In a May 2025 decision, Attorney Perri successfully prevented the admission of a purported Will to probate.  Attorney Perri’s clients argued that their father lacked testamentary capacity to make his Will and that he was unduly influenced by a family member.  The Probate Court declined to admit the purported Will finding that the decedent’s son, who had offered the purported Will, failed to carry his burden of proof.
• In a December 2024 decision,  Attorney Perri successfully prevented the admission of a purported Will to probate that was executed shortly before the decedent’s passing.  The Simsbury Probate Court found the decedent’s brother had the opportunity and disposition to exert influence over his sister (who was subject to influence). The Court found no likelihood that the decedent, “if left entirely to her own discretion and judgement” would have changed her Will.  Given the Court’s finding of undue influence, the Court found that the purported Will did not revoke the decedent’s original November 2018 Will and, as such, directed the original 2018 Will to be filed and admitted.
• In a February 15, 2024 Memorandum of Decision, after a 6-day Will Contest trial, Carmine successfully represented two siblings against a third sibling by proving that their 99-year old mother lacked testamentary capacity to execute a Will, and that their sister unduly influenced their mother into executing the purported Will resulting in it not being admitted to probate.
• In an October 2023 Decree after a three-day Will Contest, Carmine successfully represented two siblings in proving that the purported Will of their deceased father was the product of undue influence.  After the three-day trial, the Court found that undue influence was exercised subtly and methodically over a long period of time by certain family members (one person being the proponent of the purported Will.)  Additionally, the Court also found that three purported joint bank accounts were estate assets, rather than passing to one of the family members that unduly influenced the decedent.

Tortious Interference with Inheritance

• In a February 2020 Superior Court decision, Carmine represented three siblings in securing a judgment against their father’s second wife based on a Tortious Interference with the expectation of Inheritance claim.

Estate/Trust Litigation

• As more fully stated in a June 29, 2026 Memorandum of Decision regarding purported Beneficiary Designations and a Slayer Statute Determination (C.G.S. 45a-447), the Superior Court found in favor of Carmine’s clients, two parents (and fiduciaries of their daughter’s Estate), who did their all to protect and defend their late daughter’s legacy. 
• In three January 2, 2026 decisions, Carmine successfully advocated in the Superior Court on behalf of his client against the client’s sibling regarding estate and trust related litigation.  Carmine, after having successfully defended his client in the Probate Court in this matter, was able to secure three successful decisions on these three related probate appeals.
• In an August 2025 decision, Carmine and the litigation team successfully defended Carmine’s clients at the Connecticut Appellate Court wherein the Appellate Court upheld the trial court on all counts affirming a breach of fiduciary duty finding regarding a family trust; finding liability for willful misconduct; assessing compensatory and punitive damages; and removing the trustee.
• In a May 2023 Superior Court decision, Carmine successfully represented plaintiffs in removing a trustee who was mismanaging a family trust. As the result of the breach of fiduciary duty by the trustee, the plaintiffs were awarded the return of damages and attorney’s fees.

Nursing Facility Collection

• After an evidentiary hearing, Carmine successfully defended a Responsible Party against a nursing facility that was seeking to attach $180,000 of her assets in connection with an outstanding nursing facility debt of her mother’s. After denial of a Medicaid application made by the facility on the resident’s behalf, the facility sought to impose liability upon our client, the Responsible Party, but the court denied the facility’s application for attachment.

Financial Exploitation

• Carmine represented an elderly client who claimed she was financially exploited by prior powers of attorney. The Superior Court issued a favorable decision which resulted in a settlement that resolved the litigation between the client and the defendants.
• A family was hit with a large Medicaid penalty period due to some gifts that were made along with an outstanding nursing facility bill for $180,000. Carmine fought and won having the penalty period removed and the nursing home bill reduced to nearly nothing.

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Education

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