We have all heard the stories of a Good Samaritan who is left an elderly neighbor’s huge inheritance. Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to that person’s relatives who were expecting the inheritance? You may want to learn more about a woman in the United Kingdom who lostalmost a million dollars when a relative left his estate to a young man because he cleaned the gutters free of charge.
Strange Inheritance: The Million Dollar Gutters
- Its true, cleaning the gutters is a pain, but is it worth your entire million-dollar Palm Beach estate?
- To one man in England it was.
- A man made changes to his will two months before he died and the High Court of England that handles probate matters has held that the changes should stand.
- The young man and the testator had been friends for six years after the young man waived his fee for a gutter cleaning.
- The story apparently is fishy because reports say that they shared an affinity for sports but the young man had no such affinity.
- It is possible he was just being nice to the man right?
- Palm Beach probate litigators know that this is one example of how undue influencecan arise over the elderly.
- If he had exercised such influence is that also grounds for a claim of tortious interference with an expectancy or inheritance?
- Do your parents have a Delray Beach estate and a caretaker that is supervising them full time?
- When is the last time you stopped in to make sure everything was in order?
- The ruling just issued in England was surely hard on the family but the court was “satisfied that the 2013 will was executed with the knowledge and approval of [the man] and that he intended to give effect to his testamentary wishes.”
- Did you ever consider the other side of the Good Samaritan inheritance story?
- Should you really feel bad for family members who could not be around as much as a young stranger?
Proving Lack of Testamentary Capacity
- In the end the family failed to establish a case for lack of testamentary capacity.
- Palm Beach probate litigators know that to prove lack of testamentary capacity, a party has to bring forth sufficient evidence surrounding the time the will was executed.
Want to learn more? Check out a newspaper article from the local newspaper where the probate case originated. Just click here.