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Evidence Wills

Stark & Stark

Undue Influence in Pennsylvania: Proving It and Defending Against It

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Undue influence is one of the most common—and challenging—grounds for contesting a will or estate plan in Pennsylvania. It refers to situations where someone exerts excessive pressure or manipulation on a testator (the person...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirmed Order Denying Probate Of A Will Due To The Absence Of A Record

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In In re Estate of Earnest E. Clifton, an applicant offered a copy of a lost will, and the trial court denied the application via a zoom hearing without a court reporter. No. 05-24-00079-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 7071 (Tex....more

Winstead PC

Court Reversed Order Setting Aside The Probating Of A Will Where The Evidence Was Insufficient To Support The Order

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In In re Estate of Johnson, an administrator and a third party appealed the trial court’s judgment setting aside the probate of the decedent’s will, removing the administrator, and voiding the sale of an estate asset to the...more

Winstead PC

Texas Supreme Court Holds That Unsworn Testimony By Attorney Regarding A Lost Will Should Have Been Considered By The Appellate...

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In In re Estate of Brown, a charity offered a copy of will to probate. No. 23-0258, 2024 Tex. LEXIS 684 (Tex. August 30, 2024). An attorney offered unsworn testimony regarding the reason for the nonproduction of the original...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

Can Undue Influence be Proven Without a Direct Eyewitness?

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A recent decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals illustrates how the presumption of undue influence operates in a will contest when there is no eyewitness evidence of undue influence. In re Jones Estate, 2024 WL 5198621...more

Saul Ewing LLP

What If I Object to an Account Change That Now Does Not Reflect My Parent’s Intentions?

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Account changes by a loved one are often done in secret, and direct evidence of undue influence is rarely available. In cases where manipulation has led to changes in a beneficiary designation that have caused you harm, the...more

Stark & Stark

What is Undue Influence in the Context of a Will Contest?

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During a Will contest, a party challenging a Will may assert that the Will was the product undue influence being exerted over the decedent by the party who benefited by the disputed Will. The question arises: What is what is...more

Downey Brand LLP

Are an Estate Planner’s Notes Protected by the Attorney Work Product Doctrine?

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California law is surprisingly unclear as to whether the notes of an estate planning attorney are protected from discovery by the attorney work product doctrine. This can become a big issue in a will or trust contest when the...more

Downey Brand LLP

Clear and Convincing Evidence Standard Continues to Apply in California Appeals

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Last week the California Supreme Court used a conservatorship case to clarify how appellate courts should review the sufficiency of evidence when the trial court applied the clear and convincing evidence standard. In...more

Downey Brand LLP

California Courts May Invalidate Right of Survivorship in Joint Accounts

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Often an aging parent will add an adult child to the parent’s account as a joint holder to assist with asset management or bill payment. However, this may lead to an unintended result in California when the parent dies. The...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirms Trial Court’s Order Admitting Will To Probate Over An Allegation Of Forgery

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In Austin v. Austin, after the decedent passed, his daughters probated an April 2016 will, and his wife then sought to probate a December 2016 will. No. 03-18-00678-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 8255 (Tex. App.—Austin September...more

Winstead PC

Texas Statutes Now Allow A Court To Modify Or Reform An Unambiguous Will

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I. Introduction Historically, Texas courts could not resort to extrinsic evidence to construe an unambiguous will. San Antonio Area Foundation v. Lang, 35 S.W.3d 636 (Tex. 2000)....more

Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers,...

Will Caveats Or “The Family Feud”

The North Carolina Court of Appeals on December 20, 2016, issued an opinion in a case involving a Will Caveat that arose in Alamance County. The facts of this recent case illustrate very clearly the emotional and contentious...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirms Denial Of Statutory Bill Of Review From A Trust Contest

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In In re Estate of Kam, Kam sought to set aside an order probating her brother’s will via a statutory bill of review because he purportedly lacked the requisite testamentary capacity to execute the will or the will was the...more

Pullman & Comley, LLC

Appellate Court Notes

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Supreme Court Advance Release Opinions: SC19516 - Doe v. Boy Scouts of America Corp. SC19516 Concurrence - Doe v. Boy Scouts of America Corp. SC19516 Concurrence - Doe v. Boy Scouts of America Corp. ...more

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