In the case of Pace Vs. Steele, the critical factor identified by the
court with respect to undue influence and fraud is that Darrel and
Cora were the ones that obtained Ralph's will. "When a beneficiary
procures the making of a will, a rebuttable presumption of undue
influence arises, which places on the beneficiary the burden of going
forward with evidence that would permit a rational fact-finder to
conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the will was not the
product of insufficient mental capacity or undue influence" (Kubasek
et al., 2020 p. 1247). The fact that Darrell and Cora obtained the will,
put in Cora's notes about Ralph's property going to them, and had
Ralph sign it without a lawyer present is questionable. The will has to
meet four requirements for it to be valid. 1) the testator, who is the
person signing the will, must have testamentary capacity. 2) The will
must be in writing. 3) The person who writes up the will must be the
person to sign it. 4) There must be a witness to attest to the will.
Another critical factor that the court identifies is the testamentary
capacity which states the testator must have the ability "to retain in
his mind, without prompting, the extent and condition of his
property, to comprehend to whom he is giving it, and relations of
those entitled to his bounty" (Kubasek et al., 2020 p. 1247). Ralph's
mental capacity before or after he signed the will is not important.
What's important is Ralph's mental capacity when he signed the will.
While Ralph was admitted to Lawrence County Nursing Center, their
notes concluded that he had "waxing and waning capacity and is able
to make decisions some of the time." Some evidence suggests Ralph
had some mental deterioration; the supreme court still upheld his
mental capacity when he signed the will.
I believe the court should do all they can to protect the elderly and
infirm from undue influence and fraud in these cases because of their
mental capacity. In this case, although it was noted that Ralph had
mild difficulty with making decisions at the time of signing the will,
he could have still been confused because of the medication he was
taking for his severe pain. Darrel and Cora could have taken
advantage of him to gain his property. However, they could have also
really wanted to help him by taking care of him, which made him
want to set them as his beneficiaries. In these cases, looking at a
person's mental capacity is highly important when ruling on a case.
Reference:
Kubasek, N. K., M Neil Browne, Dhooge, L. J., Herron, D. J., &
Barkacs, L. L. (2019). Dynamic business law. Mcgraw-Hill Education.
