In Dean v. Morris, 756 S.E.2d 430 (Va. 2014), the Supreme Court of Virginia reversed the finding of the trial court that there was an oral agreement between decedent and his spouse that her children would receive one-third of his estate at his death. While the existence of the agreement was proved by clear and convincing evidence, the terms of the agreement were not proved; what evidence there was showed that at the time the decedent drafted various trusts he was thinking about a division of his property giving 2/3 to his children and 1/3 to his wife but there was no evidence that he and his wife actually agreed to such a division.
Special thanks to William LaPiana (Professor of Law, New York Law School) for bringing this case to my attention.
