Breach of Fiduciary Duty in Delaware Nursing Home Cases
The Inkell Firm was the first in Delaware to advance the theory that a nursing home can owe fiduciary duties to its residents. That theory has survived scrutiny in both Delaware Superior Court and the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
A Different Way to Hold Nursing Homes Accountable
Most nursing home cases are framed only as negligence claims. But when a facility is entrusted with the daily safety, dignity, health, and protection of a vulnerable resident, the relationship may involve more than routine care obligations. In the right case, it may support a claim for breach of fiduciary duty.
The Inkell Firm pioneered this approach in Delaware nursing home litigation. We were the first firm in Delaware to advance this theory, and it has survived scrutiny in both state and federal court. That matters because it provides another way to explain how deeply a nursing home may have violated the trust placed in it.
What This Means for Your Case
If your loved one was harmed in a nursing home, a fiduciary duty claim may strengthen your case beyond traditional negligence.
- It allows you to argue that the facility violated trust, not just clinical care standards.
- It may fit cases involving residents who were elderly, infirm, cognitively impaired, or heavily dependent on staff.
- It helps frame the nursing home relationship as personal and protective, not merely contractual.
- It can increase pressure on the facility to explain its conduct when it accepted responsibility for a vulnerable resident.
This is not a theory most firms use. The Inkell Firm has successfully advanced this argument in Delaware courts, and both of the cases discussed below ultimately resulted in successful settlements for our clients.
Key Delaware Cases
Cunningham v. Kentmere Rehab. & Healthcare Ctr., Inc.
Delaware Superior Court, New Castle County (2021)
In Cunningham, the Delaware Superior Court allowed a breach of fiduciary duty claim against a nursing home to survive dismissal and proceed to discovery. The plaintiff alleged that the decedent, because of age and infirmities, was incapable of caring for herself and placed trust and dependence in the defendant nursing home.
The court recognized that fiduciary relationships are usually personal in nature rather than purely contractual, but it also acknowledged that the relationship between a nursing home and its residents may carry fiduciary responsibilities because of the level of dependency and trust involved.
The court did not definitively hold that a fiduciary relationship existed in every nursing home case. Instead, it held that the plaintiff had pleaded sufficient facts to allow the claim to move forward. That ruling was important because it opened the door in Delaware for plaintiffs to pursue fiduciary duty claims against nursing homes in appropriate cases.
Why it matters: Cunningham showed that Delaware courts were willing to treat the issue as a real, fact-driven legal theory worthy of discovery rather than dismissing it outright at the pleading stage.
Carber v. Manor Care of Wilmington DE, LLC
United States District Court for the District of Delaware (2024)
In Carber, the federal court addressed fiduciary duty in the nursing home context and discussed the earlier Cunningham ruling. The defendants argued that Delaware law had not expressly recognized a fiduciary relationship between nursing homes and residents.
The court acknowledged that Cunningham permitted a breach of fiduciary duty claim to proceed to discovery, while also clarifying that Cunningham did not create a binding rule that every nursing home automatically owes fiduciary duties. Instead, the federal court emphasized that whether a fiduciary relationship exists is a factual inquiry that depends on the particular circumstances of the case.
Even so, the court made clear that sufficient factual allegations can allow such claims to proceed. That was another important step because it confirmed that the theory remained viable under scrutiny in federal court.
Why it matters: Carber reinforced that fiduciary duty claims in Delaware nursing home cases are not barred as a matter of law and can proceed when properly pleaded and factually supported.
Why The Inkell Firm’s Experience Matters
First to advance this theory in Delaware
The Inkell Firm was the first in Delaware to introduce this fiduciary duty theory in nursing home litigation. That is not marketing language. It reflects actual motion practice, actual briefing, and actual court decisions allowing the theory to survive.
State and federal scrutiny
This theory has survived scrutiny in both Delaware Superior Court and the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. That gives families and counsel a stronger legal foundation when evaluating whether a nursing home’s misconduct involved more than negligence alone.
Results that mattered
Both Cunningham and Carber resulted in successful settlements for our clients. Advancing a strong legal theory is important, but results matter most when your family is seeking justice after serious harm.
Built for serious nursing home cases
Fiduciary duty claims may be especially important in cases involving severe dependency, cognitive impairment, pressure injuries, falls, dehydration, medication problems, infection, or wrongful death. The Inkell Firm evaluates whether those facts support a broader claim for breach of trust.
Related Nursing Home Pages
Explore related nursing home case types and legal issues:
Speak With a Delaware Nursing Home Lawyer
If you believe a nursing home violated the trust placed in it, The Inkell Firm can evaluate whether a breach of fiduciary duty claim may apply in your case. We can review the records, the resident’s dependency, the care failures, and whether the facts support a fiduciary duty theory in addition to negligence claims.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This page is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship.