Warner recently obtained the dismissal of undue influence claims brought against a client in a trust and estate dispute. The case illustrates an important principle in probate litigation: A theory that someone had the ability or opportunity to influence another person is not enough. A party alleging undue influence must present evidence connecting that influence to the challenged estate-planning documents.
The Dispute
After their father died in 2024, his children filed a lawsuit against his surviving wife challenging the validity of a trust and deeds he signed in 2021. The children asked the probate court to enforce an earlier trust from 1998, which left most of the father’s assets to them.
The children alleged that their father had consistently told them the 1998 estate plan remained in effect. They also claimed that his wife was acting as his caregiver in 2021 and had the ability to persuade him to act against his wishes.
To support their claims, the children pointed to an incident in 2022 when their father reportedly told an investment adviser that his wife was making him transfer his accounts to another adviser. They also relied on a conversation that occurred while their father was near death in 2024, when his wife asked the couple’s attorney whether she could use a power of attorney to sell a parcel of farmland to a family member.
Based on these circumstances, the children argued that the wife had exerted undue influence over their father when he signed the 2021 trust and deeds.
The Evidence Behind the Estate Plan
Warner moved for summary disposition, asking the probate court to dismiss the undue influence claims without a trial.
The evidence showed that an experienced estate-planning attorney prepared the challenged documents after working with the father for several months. The attorney observed no evidence that the wife had improperly influenced the father. At the time the documents were signed, the father remained largely independent, and his wife was not serving in a fiduciary capacity for him.
The father had also told his children that he was meeting with an attorney to update his trust. Although the children later disagreed with the resulting estate plan, they had accepted at the time that their father was making changes.
The other circumstances cited by the children did not establish undue influence over the 2021 documents. The disagreement involving the financial adviser occurred the following year and was unrelated to the preparation or execution of the trust and deeds. Similarly, the wife’s 2024 inquiry about selling the farmland involved only a question to an attorney. She did not take any action under the power of attorney.
Ultimately, the children presented no evidence that the wife caused or pressured their father to sign the challenged documents.
Why the Presumption of Undue Influence Did Not Apply
Direct evidence of undue influence is often difficult to obtain because those contesting an estate plan typically were not present when the documents were prepared or signed. To address this difficulty, the law may recognize a presumption of undue influence when certain elements are established, including:
- A confidential or fiduciary relationship between the person making the estate plan and the person alleged to have exerted influence
- An opportunity to influence the person making the estate plan
- A benefit to the person alleged to have exerted the influence
In this case, the probate court determined that the required fiduciary relationship did not exist between the father and his wife when the challenged documents were signed. The presumption of undue influence therefore did not apply.
The court also found no direct or circumstantial evidence that the wife caused the father to sign the 2021 trust and deeds. As a result, the court dismissed the children’s undue influence claims.
The Key Takeaway
Undue influence requires more than evidence that a person had a close relationship with the individual making an estate plan or may have been capable of influencing that individual. It requires proof that improper influence was actually exercised and affected the creation of the challenged document.
Suspicions arising from an unexpected estate plan, strained family relationships or events occurring before or after the documents were signed may prompt further investigation. Without evidence connecting the alleged influence to the preparation or execution of the documents, however, an undue influence claim may not survive summary disposition.
The outcome of every probate dispute depends on its specific facts. Individuals involved in a dispute over a trust, will, deed or other estate-planning document should consult experienced probate litigation counsel to evaluate the available evidence and applicable legal standards.
