Palm Beach Law Firm : Turn Over Records of Financial Relationship with Medical Expert
Does a Palm Beach lawfirm need to turn over its records regarding a medical expert or doctor which the Palm Beach law firm has hired ? If the doctor can’t testify well about his relationship with the Palm Beach lawfirm that hired her or him, then yes. So said a Palm Beach appeals court on March 5th, 2014. Palm Beach probate litigators hire doctors to advise on and testify to opinions about UNDUE INFLUENCE & lack of mental capacity to write a will in Palm Beach will contests. You may want to read this 4th District Court of Appeal legal opinion where a Palm Beach estate, and the Palm Beach personal representative were a party.
Probate Litigation and Medical Experts
- Many times, in a Palm Beach challenge to a will or a trust, allegations are made that the will was obtained by undue influence.
- While undue influence can VOID a will or a trust and usually is thought of as force or duress or coercion, one with a dimished mental capacity may be more susceptible to undue influence than one who is spry and healthy
- A Palm Beach will challenge may also be successful if you prove that when the person signed the Florida will, he or she didn’t know what they were doing: they lacked testamentary capacity
Q: How do you prove if someone didn’t know that they were signing a Florida Will?
A: Palm Beach estate litigators will subpoena medical records and then have a medical expert or Palm Beach doctor testify about the records or a person’s mental state.
Impeachment of Undue Influence or Mental State Opinion
Q: did mom or dad know what they were doing when they signed the Palm Beach will or trust?
Since a medical expert or doctor may give the Palm Beach probate court an opinion about this, you have a right to try to impeach that probate testimony.
One way to impeach the testimony of an expert in a Palm Beach estate trial is to demonstrate BIAS
Estate Trial: $$$ = Bias
You can demonstrate bias by questioning the expert witness about how much money he or she has made from the Palm Beach law firm who hired him or her to testify.
This recent Palm Beach appeals case demonstrates that if you are deposing the medical expert or Palm Beach doctor and he or she is not providing complete or adequate testimony about the financial relationship with a law firm, then the Palm Beach law firm may have to turn over records to give to you the information you need for your Palm Beach trial.
Here’s the link to the complete Palm Beach appeals court opinion: http://4dca.org/opinions/Mar%202014/03-05-14/4D13-4016.op.pdf