Undue Influence and Probate Lawsuits

Are you involved in an inheritance conflict, will contest or petition to provoke probate in a West Palm Beach probate court? If so, you may be familiar with the term “undue influence”. Palm Beach trust and estates lawyers know that a will may be void in a Florida probate action if the will was obtained through undue influence. In addition, changes to beneficiary designations or estate planning strategy, when caused by undue influence, may be void. 

A June 6, 2017 opinion from the Court of Appeals of Georgia, Slosberg v. Giller,  thoroughly discusses undue influence. Although this is not a Florida probate case, probate litigators and trust attorneys frequently encounter similar lawsuits.  Here, an elderly father revoked a power of attorney and made changes to his estate planning strategy. The elderly man’s son, Robert Slosberg, filed a lawsuit against his sisters, Suzanne Giller and Amy Seidner. The son claimed that their father’s changes to his estate plan were due to diminished mental capacity and undue influence. Giller and Seidner counterclaimed and, on the parties cross motions for summary judgment, the trial court found that there was “no evidence of mental incapacity on the part of the father or that he was under any undue influence at or near any of the pertinent times the operative documents… were signed by the father.” Did the appellate court agree? Click here to read the entire case.