The plaintiff and defendant are siblings disputing the estate of their late mother, who died leaving over $21 million in assets.
The mother had historically treated her children equally in her estate planning.
In May 2013, she executed a new will leaving 75% of her estate to the defendant and 25% to the plaintiff.
Subsequently, between August 2013 and September 2014, the mother executed numerous documents that effectively transferred all her wealth to the defendant, primarily through a joint investment account with a right of survivorship, and disinherited the plaintiff entirely.
The plaintiff challenged the validity of the May 2013 will and the subsequent documents, alleging lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence.
The court found that the mother had testamentary capacity throughout.
However, the court concluded that the post-August 2013 documents and inter vivos gifts were procured through the defendant's undue influence and were therefore invalid.
The court upheld the May 2013 will as valid and ordered that the assets transferred to the defendant be held in a resulting trust for the estate, to be distributed 75% to the defendant and 25% to the plaintiff.
