Real Cases of Undue Influence and/or Incompetency

The facts in these cases can be quite unbelievable. Here are some examples of real life cases involving undue influence and/or incompetency:

• Mother and daughter court elderly gentleman. Mother takes him to Las Vegas to get married but daughter calls to insist that she marry him instead.  Neither does, but they end up with his estate.

• Lawyer and banker befriend elderly gentleman whose wife recently died. Lawyer draws will naming himself and banker as beneficiaries.  (Krischbaum v. Dillion (1991), 58 Ohio St.3d 58)

• Elderly widow gives nephew a power of attorney; nephew uses power of attorney to transfer her funds to himself. (Testa v. Roberts (1988), 44 Ohio App.3d 161)

• Younger man befriends elderly, feeble lady and brags “I can get all her money; all I have to do is to be nice to her.” He succeeds. When we asked him whether he had a criminal record, his lawyer replied, “Are you only interested in the felonies?”

• Bob Evans waitress meets elderly couple at restaurant and, ultimately, ends up with their assets.

• Ninety+ year old widow signs will in psych ward of Columbus Riverside Hospital.

• Trust officer becomes last minute beneficiary of his trust clients’ $500,000+ estate.

• The will is typed after the owner dies and the signature is forged.

• Elderly gentleman meets much younger hostess at Arizona dude ranch and they get married in Las Vegas. Within three years, the wife ends up with his millions, to the exclusion of his two sons.

• Second wife attempts to have will forged for her husband which excludes his four children of his prior marriage; her conversation about the forgery is actually tape recorded.

Law Office of Richard Kolb

www.rkolblaw.com