Membrino v. Membrino

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the trial court's judgment dismissing his com- plaint alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress in connection with proceedings in the Probate Court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The plaintiff claimed that the court improperly determined that the allegations asserted in his claim against the defendants were barred by the litigation privilege. Held: The trial court properly determined that it lacked subject matter jurisdic- tion and dismissed the plaintiff's complaint, as the plaintiff's claims were predicated on the defendants' alleged conduct in furtherance of a probate proceeding in which the plaintiff participated and, thus, the specific claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress as alleged by the plaintiff was the type of action the litigation privilege was intended to prevent. Argued December 15, 2025—officially released June 2, 2026