{"id":1203,"date":"2022-06-25T07:20:03","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T07:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chargoisharper.com\/?page_id=1203"},"modified":"2023-05-02T06:08:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T06:08:04","slug":"undue-influence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chargoisharper.com\/estate-probate-law\/probate\/undue-influence\/","title":{"rendered":"Undue Influence"},"content":{"rendered":"
More and more older people are expected to wind up in nursing facilities or at-home care arrangements, away from the careful eyes of their family members, as the number of baby boomers who are retiring, continues to rise and the burden of elder care and child care rises for middle-class families.<\/p>\n
When this occurs, the risk of undue influence<\/a> over an older family member’s estate increases dramatically. In the absence of loved ones, new persons are tasked with caring for those family members and maintaining communication with them.<\/p>\n As a result, litigation involving undue influence in financial decisions and estate planning has increased dramatically in recent years, and our experienced probate attorney<\/a> expects this trend to continue. If you have any questions concerning what is undue influence, contact Chargois Harper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Undue influence is defined in Texas by a three-part test:<\/p>\n Undue influence can only be proven if all three of these conditions are present. Essentially, this test demands proof that someone took advantage of your family member’s elderly state of mind and amended a Trust or Will for their profit.<\/p>\n Your father, for example, may have established a trust for you to obtain a valuable coin collection that he owns. He is cared for 24 hours a day by in-home caregivers, one of whom is aware of his coin collection.<\/p>\n Over time, that provider tells your father how much he enjoys coins and how lovely having a collection would be. The provider informs your father that until he gives up the coin collection, he will no longer be taken care of.<\/p>\n He eventually persuades your father to hand up the coin collection to the provider instead of keeping it in trust. This is an example of undue influence.<\/p>\n While undue influence is most commonly associated with third parties that provide outside services to a family, it can also occur between family members. Maybe your sister wants the vacation house you’ve been given, and she’ll attempt to persuade her elderly mother to alter her mind about who gets it. Outside strangers aren’t the only ones that gain from undue influence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Due to the legal system’s interest in seeing a wronged party made whole and ensuring that vulnerable parties are protected, courts frequently provide undue influence as a legal remedy. There are several forms of relationships in which undue influence may be present.<\/p>\n However, the following are some of the most prevalent undue influence contract situations where one party may be exploited:<\/p>\n When the parties share a familial relationship, it is one of the most prevalent situations of undue influence being exercised over a susceptible person. Close or distant family members, for example, may take advantage of an older member of their family to obtain a financial benefit.<\/p>\n Financial exploitation of the elderly is highly widespread, with one out of every twenty older persons reporting it. The following are examples of close familial relationships:<\/p>\n When the two parties have a legal relationship, undue influence is also a regular occurrence. Attorney-client or trustee-beneficiary relationships, for example, can also result in the presumption of undue influence if the attorney or trustee takes advantage of the party to whom they owe a fiduciary duty<\/a>.<\/p>\n Doctors, like lawyers, have a variety of fiduciary duties to their patients, including:<\/p>\n In addition to the aforementioned relationships, undue influence can also arise when one party is more knowledgeable or educated than the other and uses that advantage to compel the other party into signing a contract.<\/p>\n Importantly, a court must decide that one party was susceptible and that the other party used those vulnerabilities and their superior position to force the other party into signing the agreement.<\/p>\n When one party believes they have no option but to agree to a contract owing to the dominant party’s influence, courts will frequently invoke the undue influence concept to protect the victim party by declaring the transaction voidable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFamilial Relationships<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Legal Relationships<\/b><\/h3>\n
Doctor-Patient Relationships<\/b><\/h3>\n
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