Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 242, § 1 (2026)

Waste; persons entitled to maintain; jury trial

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 1. If a tenant in dower, by the curtesy, for life or for years commits or suffers waste on the land so held, the person having the next immediate estate of inheritance may have an action of waste against such tenant to recover the place wasted and the amount of the damage, and such action shall be subject to the provisions of law relative to trial by jury. An heir may bring such action for waste done in the lifetime of his ancestor.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1934–2023 · leading case: Ciani v. MacGrath, 114 N.E.3d 52 (Mass. 2019).

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Ciani v. MacGrath, 114 N.E.3d 52 (Mass. 2019). · cites it 2× “241, § 1 (life tenant is entitled to partition for so long as his or her estate endures); G. L. c. 242, § 1 (successors may maintain action against life tenant for waste).”

Matteson v. Walsh, 947 N.E.2d 44 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). · cites it 2× “Matteson brought this action against Walsh pursuant to the provisions of G. L. c. 242, § 1, which states, in relevant part, that “[i]f a tenant in dower, by the curtesy, for life or for years commits or suffers waste on the land so held, the person having the next immediate…”

Zielinski v. Connecticut Valley Sanitary Waste Disposal, Inc., 873 N.E.2d 1207 (Mass. App. Ct. 2007). “id review at least some material relevant to the Zielin- *336 skis’ claim that the defendant was attempting to evade payment of the full amount of the rent, but only in the context of the Zielinskis’ argument that, in attempting to reduce the amount of rent, the defendant had in…”

Thayer v. Shorey, 191 N.E. 435 (Mass. 1934). “The defendant contends that the plaintiffs are not persons “having the next immediate estate of inheritance” within the meaning of G. L. c. 242, §§ 1, 2. It is argued that by the reservation to the grantor in the deed from the defendant to Whittemore “to herself the right to…”

Nautican Realty Co. v. Nantucket Shipyard, Inc., 545 N.E.2d 1177 (Mass. App. Ct. 1989). “186, § 12, does not apply to a tenancy for years; and, as G. L. c. 242, § 1, applies only to tenancies for years, for life, or in dower, it had no application to at will tenancies such as that in Beck.”

Lodigiani v. Paré (Mass. App. Ct. 2023). · cites it 2× “The Legislature long ago enacted G. L. c. 242, § 1, which provides that "[i]f a tenant in dower, by the curtesy, for life or for years commits or suffers waste on the land so held, the person having the next immediate estate of inheritance may have an action of waste against…”

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