A Warner partner defended the validity of a trust amendment executed by a Bay County decedent, in response to the stepson’s petition to invalidate the instrument. The stepson claimed that the stepmother lacked mental capacity and/or was unduly influenced to sign the trust amendment.
Representing the trustee, the Warner attorney prepared a motion to dismiss the trust contest. In regards to the mental capacity claim, he offered medical records showing that the stepmother was consistently found competent by her providers, affidavits from disinterested witnesses showing that stepmother maintained full capacity through her death, and the stepson’s admission that he had offered to purchase stepmother’s residence from her the year she signed the challenged trust amendment (which he would not have done if she had been incapacitated).
Regarding the undue influence claim, the attorney obtained affidavits from disinterested witnesses indicating that the stepmother was strong-willed and not susceptible to undue influence, and he also showed that the stepson was not entitled to a presumption of undue influence.
The Bay County Probate Court found that there was no genuine factual dispute that needed to be resolved at trial and dismissed the stepson’s lawsuit in full.
Experience
