The critical factors identified by the court with respect to undue
influence and fraud, in this case, includes whether the document was
properly executed; whether the testator had the mental capacity to
execute a will; and whether the document was the result of undue
influence, fraud, duress, or mistake. Undue influence is when the
testator writes a will while being taken advantage of by someone
they trust when they are physically or mentally weak or under
emotional distress. In the case in question, Kathy failed to meet the
burden of proof regarding fraud or undue influence in the case of her
uncle's will. Since she was contesting the will she needed to provide
a preponderance of evidence proving that her uncle did not sign the
will in January of 2013 by his own free will. The court focused on
the fact that though Ralph was injured and had recently lost his wife
developing a close and affectionate relationship with his other niece
and nephew it is not evidence enough that they were favored in the
will due to undue influence. I feel that given the evidence provided
in the case the appeals court made the right decision to not overturn
the lower court's decision.
I feel that courts should go as far as legally appropriate to ensure
that the infirmed and elderly's final wishes are followed, but since the
infirmed and elderly tend to be the largest population targeted by
fraud and undue influence there is a fine line. Infirmed and elderly
people tend to require additional help and many times families will
step in out of the goodness of their heart to help their relatives, if
they are capable of making changes to their will and are not being
coerced they may want to ensure that their caretaker gets a bit more
because of the relationship formed. This is not fraud or undue
influence but the desire of the individual to create or change the
will. Lawyers should be required to ensure that they do their due
diligence in ensuring that their client's wishes are clearly laid out in
their will and that they are making any changes because they want to
and they are in their right mind when making those changes. This
will help to provide further support in cases that families are
disputing wills because there is additional evidence to support the
will.
