One potential problem with an estate plan is if it has been altered due to undue influence. This can lead to challenges from other beneficiaries or family members, potentially leading to litigation. Additionally, this type of financial fraud is simply something that elderly people need to be well aware of, as they are often part of a rather vulnerable population group.
Specifically, undue influence involves an outside party manipulating or coercing someone to change their estate plan. Legally speaking, an elderly person needs to draft and sign their estate plan of their own free will. Someone may help them do this—it’s common for parents and children to talk about it during the estate planning process—but the decisions they make still have to be their own.
What are signs of manipulation?
The clearest sign of undue influence or some type of coercion is when the changes to the estate plan benefit one person. Another element may be if that person was in a position of power over the elderly individual.
For example, say that one adult child is helping their parent make an estate plan. They’re also a caregiver, so they provide daily assistance and company. If the resulting estate plan splits up assets roughly equally between multiple siblings, there may not be any problem.
But if it turns out that the estate plan was altered at the last moment to shift a significant amount of assets into the caregiver’s name, that may be a red flag. Perhaps they used their position of power to manipulate their parent to change the plan. This means that the resulting estate plan is not actually what the elderly individual wanted, even though they did write it.
These types of contests and challenges can be very complex. It’s important for elderly individuals and their family members to know what legal steps to take.