Relationship Poisoning

Relationship Poisoning

Undue Influence

Proving undue influence is often hard in an inheritance dispute. Many facts come into play when undue influence is involved. These facts include frail health, physical dependency, false affection, relationship poisoning, threats and mistreatment, and involvement in the execution of documents by and in favor of the alleged abuser. Undue influence can also be a strong mind over a weaker mind.

Relationship poisoning and undue influence.

What is relationship poisoning in the context of a will contest? A Texas court held that when a person makes negative remarks about a person’s children and negatively reinterprets historical events, the jury can consider these acts relationship poisoning. The jury can find undue influence based on the relationship poisoning, and the verdict will be upheld. 340 SW 3d 769. While relationship poisoning alone may or may not be sufficient proof of undue influence, if it has occurred, it needs to be brought to the court’s attention because it will assist the court in determining if undue influence has occurred.

What Happens When You File An Inheritance Dispute In The Wrong Texas Court

Filing an inheritance dispute in the wrong Texas court can be fatal to your claim!

Facts

A recent court of appeals decision illustrates what happens when you file an inheritance dispute in the Wrong Texas Court. An elderly Texas man had nine children. In the last few years of his life, one of his children gained control of the man. She obtained a power of (more…)

England Seeing Increase in Will Contest

Increase in Will ContestEngland seeing an increase in will contest, why?

For the same reasons Texas is seeing an increase in will contest. I have previously written on why contesting a will has become more common. You can view that article here. An English law firm, Soosmiths, has an article on their website that discusses the Ministry of Justice statements on the causes of the increase in such cases in England. The increase is as much as 700% over prior years!

English law is different from Texas law but the law firm notes several reasons that I have previously discussed like the change in the family structure and the fact that we are living longer. The English article also talks about self made or do it yourself wills being a cause (more…)

Relationship Poisoning And Undue Influence

History of Undue Influence

Undue influence is one of the harder things to prove in an inheritance dispute. The doctrine of undue influence derives from English courts.  A will contest heard by Sir Francis Bacon as the Lord Chancellor of England in 1617 illustrates common aspects of the process of undue influence which emerged in the context of a will contest.  These aspects include frail health, physical dependency, false affection, relationship poisoning, threats and mistreatment, and involvement in the execution of documents by and in favor of the alleged abuser.

Relationship poisoning and undue influence.

What is relationship poisoning in the context of a will contest? A Texas court held that when a person makes negative remarks about a person’s children and reinterprets historical events in a negative manner, the jury can consider these acts as relationship poisoning. Based on the relationship poisoning, the jury can find undue influence  and the verdict will be upheld. 340 SW 3d 769. While relationship poisoning alone may or may not be sufficient proof of undue influence, if it has occurred it needs to be brought to the attention of the court because it will assist the court in determining if undue influence has occurred.

Undue Influence in Texas

Contesting a Will Because of Undue Influence

Relationship Poisoning

Elder Abuse Is Increasing

Elder abuse is increasing in Texas.

Elder abuse is often at the hands of those closest. In an article in the Arizona Daily Star by Patrick McNamara, which was published on their website, tucson.com, the paper reported that law enforcement is seeing an increase in elder abuse.

Reason that elder abuse is increasing

As our elderly population grows, law enforcement and prosecutors are seeing an increase in the number of incidents of exploitation and abuse against older people. According to the article, law enforcement has seen a nearly 50 percent increase in elder exploitation reports. Financial crimes are taking a toll on lives and pocketbooks reports Constance Gustke in the New York Times. Trusted caregivers – friends and relatives who offer support and guidance – are often the ones at fault. The article states that older adults are appealing – and vulnerable – targets because they have a lot of money that was saved over the years.

Abuse of senior citizens, both physical and financial, has become a growing problem in all states, including Pennsylvania, and it isn’t expected to abate as that state’s elderly population rises reports Matt Miller on pennlive.com. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is so concerned that it has created a task force calling for everyone from judges to legislators to family members and the general public to get involved. Because elder abuse is increasing, they made recommendations to require banks and other financial institutions to report suspected cases of financial exploitation of seniors along with a proposed expansion of existing law to make it impossible for someone convicted of abusing a senior citizen to later benefit from that victim’s estate.

I have an article on this blog about a case where an adult daughter left her elderly father in the care of a longtime friend while she took a short vacation. In one week, the friend married the father, started transferring assets into joint accounts, and named herself his pension beneficiary. The children learned of the marriage a month later. When they confronted their father, he recalled nothing about it.

Elder abuse is increasing and undue influence is one way bad guys use to abuse the elderly.

Remedies for the victims and their family

What can be done if a family has had an elderly loved one fall victim to abuse? Often when a family learns of elder abuse, it is too late. The bad guy has taken the money and it cannot be recovered. Close monitoring of those who are around the elderly helps but sometimes that is not possible. What if mom or Aunt Sally or Uncle Joe lives in the next city or next county or next state? Sometimes the abuser is a child or other close relative. Since close monitoring is not always possible, a regular review of the elder person’s finances may disclose transactions that need to be pursued. If the abuser has gotten the elder person to write a new will, this may not be discovered until after the elder person dies. The only remedy then is a will contest.

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By Robert Ray a Board Certified attorney. The foregoing information is general in nature and does not apply to every fact situation. We handle litigation involving inheritance disputes. We don’t prepare wills. We don’t file wills for probate or distribute estates except when we are contesting a will or protecting a will from a contest. We handle a select few cases on contingency. Don’t use a comment to ask a personal question about an inheritance issue because your name and comment will be public. To ask a litigation question and to protect your privacy, click the red button to the right.

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