California will contest or trust contest based on undue influence

The Grossman Law Firm, A.P.C. are Riverside, California probate lawyers.  We help probate estates in Riverside County, California.  We appear in the Riverside probate court for cases in the area bounded by Temecula, Corona, and Banning, California.  We appear in the Palm Springs/Indio probate court for cases from Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, and Indio, California.  If you  would like more information on probate and trust administration then order our free book The Insider's Guide to California Probate and Trust Administration as well as our free DVD Probate a Will or Administer a Trust After the Death of a Loved One.
California will contests and trust contests can be based on undue influence. A previous article in this library described will contests and trust contests based on mental incompetence. This article focuses on how undue influence is proven in a California will contest or trust contest.

California law defines undue influence as conduct that subjugates the testator's will to that of another, causing a disposition different from that which the testator would have made if permitted to follow his or her own inclinations. It is not enough to prove that generally speaking, someone influenced the testator or had an opportunity to influence the testator. There must be proof that the influence was used to get the testator to sign a will or trust. Undue influence is proven, when it is shown that the testator's freedom to choose was overcome by someone exerting pressure, arguing with the testator, or using some kind of coercion so the testator could not make their own choice.

While undue influence can be proven when a person doesn't have some sort of cognitive or mental dysfunction, is usually easier to prove when that person is in some way cognitively impaired. A person can be mentally competent but still subject to undue influence. For example, a person who is clearly compromised by her dementia, but isn't so far gone that she lacks mental capacity. She is vulnerable to being manipulated and particularly vulnerable to someone she trusts, like her daughter or son.

Of course, some people have declined so far that they are both subject to undue influence and mentally incompetent. These are not mutually exclusive conditions. A person can be mentally incompetent, unduly influenced or both.
The person subject to undue influence may be forgetful and may be dependent on other people but isn't so impaired that he or she is incompetent. Even though competent, a person in this compromised condition could be more easily taken advantage of (i.e. subject to undue influence) because of their condition. Prove undue influence and the will contest or trust contest will be successful.

When trying to prove lack of mental capacity or undue influence, the testator's medical records are going to be important. If the records are not readily available then they will likely be obtained by your probate litigation attorney during the course of the litigation by subpoena. At trial, you will most certainly need an expert, a forensic geriatric psychiatrist, to testify the medical records show your loved one was either mentally incompetent or compromised and therefore subject to undue influence.


The Grossman Law Firm, A.P.C. are San Diego, California probate lawyers.  We help probate estates in San Diego County, California.  We appear in the San Diego probate court for probate cases that come San Diego County south of Escondido.  We appear in the North County San Diego/Vista probate court for probate cases that come from Escondido all the way north to Fallbrook, California.  If you  would like more information on probate and trust administration then order our free book The Insider's Guide to California Probate and Trust Administration as well as our free DVD Probate a Will or Administer a Trust After the Death of a Loved One.