An incident from Florida offers excellent instruction on how to combat a will created when the testator suffered diminished capacity and was being unduly influenced. In this case, the Testator began to suffer from dementia but married a year later in spite of his worsening condition. Predictably, his new bride took action to change the will to leave the entire estate to herself and exclude the husband’s daughter. Using evidence such as recorded phone calls, mental history of the deceased, recent financial decisions and other documentation the family was able to have the will overturned. This goes to show that prudent action by the potentially wronged beneficiaries in suspect situations can pay off if a problem emerges at probate.
See Tom Nawrocki, Overturning a Suspect Will: A Case Study, Life Health Pro, Apr. 6, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
