When pressure is being exerted on the person that is making their last will and testament, such undue influence can defeat the legitimacy of their purported testamentary decisions. For a last will and testament is meant to be undertaken free of pressure, duress or any other form of external influence. And it is for that very reason many wills are undertaken with a lawyer and witnessed by people who have no stake in the individual's estate after they die.

Potential indicators of undue influence have included the following:

o The testator is dependent on the beneficiary in fulfilling his or her emotional or physical needs;

o The testator is socially isolated;

o The testator has experienced recent family conflict;

o The testator has experienced recent bereavement;

o The testator has made a new Will that is inconsistent with his or her prior Wills; and

o The testator has made testamentary changes similar to changes made to other documents such as power of attorney documents.

Furthermore, the following factors have been viewed by the courts as evidence that a will was coerced or otherwise the result of undue influence:

o Increasing isolation of the testator, including a move from his home to a new city;

o The testator’s dependence on a beneficiary;

o Substantial pre-death transfers of wealth from the testator to the beneficiary;

o The testator’s failure to provide a reason or explanation for leaving his entire estate to the beneficiary and excluding others who would expect to inherit;

o The use of a lawyer chosen by the beneficiary and previously unknown to the testator;

o The beneficiary conveyed the instructions to the lawyer;

o The beneficiary received a draft of the Will before it was executed and the beneficiary took the testator to the lawyer to have it executed;

o There were documented statements that the testator was afraid of the respondent.

For experienced and specialized legal representation pertaining to wills with respect to inheritance disputes and estate litigation, contact the law firm of Neufeld Legal Professional Corporation and lawyer Christopher Neufeld, by telephone at 403-400-4092 or email at Chris@NeufeldLegal.com.

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