Estate Sues Charity Over $2 Million in Annuities & Tortuous Interference with Inheritance

What would you do if your dad had a few bucks and you learned that when he died, he left all of his estate to one charity? (Or, more precisely, he left most of his wealth in the form of annuities, and left all of his annuities outside the family – to a single charity.) Most beneficiaries of Palm Beach estates would cry foul and begin a Palm Beach inheritance lawsuit. Palm Beach probate lawsuit. If you are a son of a wealthy Boca Raton mom or Jupiter, Florida dad who had a number of valuable annuities or beneficiary designations, you may want to read this recent probate litigation case out of Rhode Island. If you inherit from your dad’s estate but learn that most of dad’s wealth was tied up in annuities….. would you want to know why those annuities don’t go to you? If you learn that ALL of dad’s annuities go to ONE charity, would you be surprised? That’s this case. Annuities are common in Palm Beach estate matters. They are Florida will substitutes intended to bypass Palm Beach probate and go directly to the named beneficiary of the annuity when the annuity owner dies. In this case, the son was appointed to administer his dad’s estate and he sued the charity for tortuous interference with an expectancy and undue influence. The federal court’s February 26, 2014 decision denied the charity’s motion for summary judgment. So, the estate lawsuit lives on. It’s not over yet. If you are involved in Palm Beach probates or Palm Beach estate litigation, you may want to read this. Here are the basic facts:

• Dr. Chu died on November 19, 2009
• He had a son, Paul, and some annuities
• The annuities made up the bulk of his wealth and were paid to a charity – ALL of them
• His son, Paul, was appointed by the East Providence Probate Court in October 2010 to serve as Dr. Chu’s estate executor (what we in Palm Beach probate circles call the “personal representative”
• When the son was appointed to run his dad’s estate, all of the annuities were gone
• So the son started this estate litigation on November 9, 2012.

Son Sues Charities claiming that it used fraudulent and deceitful tactics, including undue influence.

How? The son claimed the charity induced his father to name the charity on his annuities. In Palm Beach inheritance litigation, this may support a claim for tortuous interference with an expectancy. In Florida, an estate beneficiary or a Palm Beach trust beneficiary who has been damaged by someone’s else’s bad conduct can sue to regain your inheritance, if your inheritance was interfered with.

Here in this Rhode Island probate lawsuit, the son is making serious allegations about the charity, which was the named beneficiary of ALL OF DAD’S RETIREMENT ANNUITIES.

The charity tried to argue to the probate court that the son, as estate executor lacked legal standing to sue the charity. Nonsense. The son, in his capacity as the executor of his father’s Estate, is claiming that his dad was the victim of fraud, deceit & undue influence committed by the charity. But the son did have a right to sue the charity over the annuities. The fraud claim survived the death of the father and such claims are typically properly filed by the estate executor. Additionally, the estate was the backup beneficiary to the charity. The inheritance lawsuit goes forward.