RELATED STORY ⇒ Mother of Harmony Montgomery asks probate judge to pronounce her daughter dead in advance of filing wrongful death claim
NASHUA, NH – Harmony Montgomery has been declared dead and her mother appointed the administrator of her estate, according to an order issued by a Probate Court judge.
Judge Beth H. Kissinger, presiding in 9th Circuit – Probate Division – Nashua, on Monday issued the decision.
Crystal Sorey of Fitchburg, Mass., Harmony’s biological mother, must post a fiduciary bond in the amount of $10,000 within 30 days before “letters of appointment” are issued. If she fails to do so, the case could be dismissed.
Sorey, at the hearing on Monday, testified that she will be pursuing a wrongful death claim or claims in New Hampshire on behalf of the estate. She has said she plans to sue the state of New Hampshire.
Attorney Sheliah Kaufold, who represents Sorey, must submit by March 15, 2024, an authenticated copy of the verdict in the case of Adam Montgomery, Harmony’s father who was convicted of second-degree murder in her beating death. He also was convicted of abuse of a corpse for moving Harmony’s body around Manchester as his family moved from place to place. Kayla Montgomery, Adam’s estranged wife, was the state’s star witness, at his trial which he opted not to attend.
Adam Montgomery also declined to attend the probate hearing, either in person or by WebEx.
Manchester Ink Link reached out to Kaufold but she declined to comment at this time. A message left for Sorey was not immediately returned.
Kayla Montgomery testified she witnessed Adam repeatedly punching Harmony, then 5 years old, inside the car where the family of five were living after being evicted from their home just before Thanksgiving 2019. When the car broke down on Dec. 7, 2019, after Adam had repeatedly punched Harmony in the head because he was furious about her bathroom accidents in the car, Adam and Kayla realized that the 5-year-old was dead in the back seat.
In early 2019, Sorey, who was struggling with a drug addiction, lost custody of Harmony when a Massachusetts judge granted custody to Adam Montgomery, who then moved to New Hampshire.
Authorities didn’t learn Harmony was missing until late in 2019, more than two years later, after Sorey went to authorities telling them she hadn’t seen her daughter since speaking to her via the internet on Easter 2019.
Monday morning, Kissinger held a hearing on Sorey’s petition seeking a court order declaring her daughter dead “as a result of some catastrophic event but…her body could not be recovered.”
The judge, in granting Sorey’s petition, said that in light of the prolonged absence of contact, and the jury verdicts that “Adam Montgomery murdered his daughter, and mishandled the corpse, Ms. Sorey has carried her burden to demonstrate that Harmony was killed ‘as a result of some catastrophic event.’”
No death certificate has been issued as her body has not been located, the judge wrote.
In appointing Sorey the administrator of her daughter’s estate, Kissinger said that although Sorey appeared inexperienced in estate administration, Kaufold will assist her through “the closure of this administration. The Court reminded Ms. Sorey of some of her fiduciary obligations in the estate administration and she appeared willing to follow through on them.”
The judge also said that Sorey must file a status report every six months after the issuance of the Certificate of Appointment.
As administrator, Sorey must also file within seven days of either a final judgment in a litigated proceeding or upon execution of a settlement agreement, that a resolution has been attained and funds expected to be received by the estate so the court may review the amount of the bond required. “Neither she nor her counsel shall take possession of any estate funds until the bond amount has been reviewed,” the judge ordered.
She also said that Sorey is “specifically DIRECTED that no fees shall be taken by counsel in either this matter or as a fee in the underlying wrongful death matter, without prior court approval. The gross amount of any judgment or settlement shall be deposited in the Estate of Harmony Montgomery account pending approval of the Court to remit attorney’s fees.”
