Undue Influence: Definitions and Applications - California Courts ...

lawyer so that Mr. Greenhill might sign his will, or make out his will.” 47
The doctor then
referred her to a nurse to make the telephone call asking the attorney to come to the hospital.
Arthur could not even breathe without an oxygen mask when his attorney appeared at the
hospital.
Arthur, his wife, and the attorney had discussed a new will for Arthur some months
before. However, that will was never finalized, so the attorney was forced to hand write a new
will in the hospital room. The attorney prepared the will (which left everything to Arthur’s wife)
at the hospital in the presence of Arthur and his wife. On its completion, Arthur signed his will.
One day later, he died.
In a scenario similar to Arthur’s, another newlywed executed a will for the benefit of her
new spouse right before dying. Irene Teel had been married just six months when she killed
herself at the age of 69. Two weeks prior to her death, Irene executed a will leaving her entire
estate to her husband and disinheriting her only child. Like Arthur, Irene had a close and
friendly relationship with her daughter and spoke of leaving everything to her when she died.
Like Arthur and his wife, Irene and her husband had been married only a short time;
however, in both cases each spouse received the entirety of the estate. These gifts were also
similar in that they disinherited the decedents’ children. Further, the spouses of Arthur and Irene
were both involved in the discussion of the wills and present during their drafting.
After Irene’s death, her daughter contested the will on the grounds of undue influence.
The court found that Irene’s abnormal conduct, her attempts at suicide, the disinheritance of her
daughter in favor of her new husband to whom she had been married less than six months, and
47 In re Greenhill’s Estate (1950) 99 Cal.App.2d 155, at 161.
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