Opposing Arguments Set for Cop’s Inheritance Trial Monday (Today!)

Have you heard the story of the Portsmouth Virginia Cop who took advantage   of his position in the community to secure a$2 million inheritance from a wealthy, demented lonely old woman?  A will contest has surfaced and now opposing arguments are scheduled to take place today, Monday April 27, 2015.

Strange Inheritance

• Trial is set to begin today in the case of a Virginia police officer that inherited $2 millionafter possibly having an undue influence on a lonely mentally incompetent woman in Portsmouth Va.
• An attorney is contesting the will, which made the officer the primary beneficiary of the multimillion-dollar estate.
• Do you know how the will is being challenged?
• The attorney alleges that when the decedent signed her last will and testament she did not have testamentary capacity.
• The reason this case is making so much news is that the bulk of the estate that the officer is claiming was destined for charities that would benefit the needy and poor.
• How do you challenge testamentary capacity in a Palm Beach probate issue like a will contest?

Testamentary Capacity

• Testamentary capacity is a decedent’s ability to “know and understand the natural objects of one’s bounty, the nature and extent of one’s property, and to make a disposition of property according to some plan formed in the mind.”
• In other words, the person has to have the mental ability to know what they have, and to give it away in an organized manner.
• Can you see how its possible a demented old woman would lack this ability?

Florida

• In Florida, a testator is presumed to have testamentary capacity.
• If someone challenges a will on grounds of lack of testamentary capacity they have an obligation to put forth evidence otherwise the claim will fail.
• Do you know how much evidence you have to present to challenge a will in Boynton Beach?
• In Florida in order to be valid evidence, it has to relate to a time at or near the execution of a will. Is a mental breakdown a year later good enough?

Want to learn more check out a local news article about the controversy by clicking here!