In October 2016, Devine Millimet’s Probate Litigation team tried a will contest case before the New Hampshire Trust Docket. In this case, Devine shouldered the burden of showing that a 2014 amendment to a trust, a deed transferring ownership in the deceased’s home, and subsequent transfers of assets into the trust, was not a product of undue influence by our client.
The Court recognized that it is hard to distinguish when an individual’s modification of their estate plan is the product of undue influence or when it is motivated by an independent decision to favor one beneficiary over another. In making this determination, the Court will look to all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the deceased, their familial relations, and the trust itself.
It was undisputed in this case that our client provided daily care for her father, was involved with the execution of her father’s 2014 will, trust amendment, and deed transfer, and benefitted from the change in the estate plans. However, the Court also found that the deceased did not have a close relationship with the children from his first marriage, noting that the four half siblings had distanced themselves from their father prior to his death. The Court was further persuaded that there was no undue influence by testimony from the deceased’s attorneys and physicians. The credible testimony made clear that the father was not experiencing cognitive decline at the time of the change in estate plans and was adamant about making the changes despite advice to the contrary from his attorneys and our client herself.
As a result of the factual findings, the Court found that the deceased made the 2014 estate planning changes due to a preference towards our client, not because of undue influence. Judge King denied the Petition to Invalidate the Trust Amendment and to Recover Property of Estate and Trust, denied the Petitioner’s Motion to Re-examine the Probate Will, and upheld the estate plan at issue.
