Undue Influence in Estate Litigation

Claims of undue influence can lead to estate litigation when a family member, heir, or beneficiary alleges that someone unduly influenced a decedent to create or change their estate plan to benefit the influencer when the decedent otherwise would not have intended to benefit the influencer. However, undue influence claims involve complex legal issues and require robust evidence to convince a court to overturn an estate plan that may have arisen from undue influence.

What Is Undue Influence?

Undue influence occurs when a person establishes a fiduciary or confidential relationship with another individual and uses that relationship to influence the individual’s actions, effectively substituting the person’s will for that of the influenced individual. Older adults frequently become victims of undue influence, with perpetrators leveraging an older person’s vulnerabilities to influence them to make financial or estate planning decisions that benefit the perpetrator to the detriment of the victim or their family.

Common Signs of Undue Influence

Signs that a loved one may have come under someone else’s undue influence include:

• Someone Begins Isolating Your Loved One from Family Members, Friends, or Trusted Advisors – Your loved one may have a caregiver or a new “friend” who starts limiting everyone’s access to your loved one. Alternatively, your loved one may decrease the frequency of speaking to family or friends or going out for social engagements.
• Sudden Changes in Estate or Financial Planning – A loved one may unexpectedly change their will or other estate planning documents, such as changing beneficiaries or altering bequests. Your loved one’s financial accounts may also show signs of unusual financial transactions, such as significant withdrawal of money, transfers of assets, or unexpectedly adding people as authorized users or transfer/pay-on-death beneficiaries for financial accounts.
• Inconsistent Statements or Unexplained Discrepancies – Your loved one may begin making statements about their wishes or preferences that contradict their prior long-held beliefs and estate planning goals. Alternatively, they may start making financial decisions inconsistent with their estate plan, prior stated intentions, or long-standing practices, such as suddenly changing their gifting practices without explanation.
• Signs of Anxiety, Depression, or Physical/Cognitive Decline – A person exerting undue influence over your loved one may use tactics such as threats, guilt trips, or other manipulative behavior, which, in combination with efforts to isolate your loved one or undermine their trust in family or friends can cause emotional distress and, in older adults, physical or cognitive decline.

Contesting a Will for Undue Influence

A court may approve and enforce a will during probate if the decedent executed the will while possessing testamentary capacity and being of sound mind. When a person becomes a victim of undue influence, they may no longer have the “sound mind” necessary to create or change a will. As a result, family members may file a will contest after their loved one passes away, alleging that another family member or individual exerted undue influence over the decedent to convince them to change their will in a way they would not have without the undue influence. However, family members who file a will contest must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that undue influence caused the decedent to create or change their will so that it no longer reflected the decedent’s true wishes.

Proving Undue Influence in Estate Disputes

Invalidating a will due to undue influence will require an heir or beneficiary to prove various elements, such as:

• The Decedent’s Susceptibility/Vulnerability to Undue Influence – In many cases, a party filing a will contest may allege that the decedent had a physical or cognitive decline that made them vulnerable to undue influence.
• Opportunity to Exert Undue Influence – An alleged perpetrator must have had a fiduciary or confidential relationship with the decedent that would enable them to influence the decedent’s financial or estate planning decisions.
• Motive/Disposition – The alleged perpetrator also must have had a desire or motive to influence the decedent to change their estate plan for the perpetrator’s benefit, knowing that the decedent otherwise did not intend to benefit the perpetrator.
• Evidence of Coercion or Manipulation – A challenger must present evidence that an alleged perpetrator engaged in coercive or manipulative conduct toward the decedent.

Most claims of undue influence will involve circumstantial evidence, allowing a factfinder to infer each element. Such evidence may include the decedent’s medical records, copies of correspondence involving the alleged perpetrator, testimony from the decedent’s healthcare providers or legal counsel, and witness testimony regarding the perpetrator’s and decedent’s behavior.

Contact Our Firm Today

When a loved one may have suffered undue influence that caused them to change their estate plan against their will, your family may end up in estate litigation after their passing. Contact Staubus, Blankenship, Legere and Walker PLLC online or call us today at (214) 833-0100 for a confidential consultation with an estate litigation attorney for undue influence to discuss your family’s options for protecting your or your loved one’s rights and interests from the effects of undue influence.