The sons of Rick Biddle contested his will, alleging that Rick’s wife, Dianne, exercised undue influence in the drafting of the document. The will left $1 to Brian Biddle, $50,000 to Richard Biddle, $400,000 to Dianne, and the remainder in trust for Brian’s daughter. In addition to Dianne’s confidential relationship with Rick, she was present in some of Rick’s meetings with his attorneys and discussions regarding the will. Brian and Richard also pointed out that the original will was in Dianne’s custody for some time after it was signed, there were holes where the document had clearly been unstapled and restapled, and names were misspelled. The court noted that the revisions to the will did not significantly benefit Dianne and that, as a spouse, the confidential relationship between Rick and Dianne is judged differently when considering undue influence. The court found that the evidence put forward by Brian and Richard was not sufficient to survive Dianne’s motion for summary judgment. 

We have noted in prior articles that one basis for a challenge to a will’s terms is that the person benefited exercised “undue influence” over the willmaker. The Mississippi Supreme Court noted in Biddle: “A presumption of undue influence arises when (1) a confidential relationship existed between the testator and beneficiary, and (2) the beneficiary in the confidential relationship was actively involved in some way with preparing, procuring, or executing the will. (citations omitted) A confidential relationship exists when “one person is in a position to exercise dominant influence upon the other because of the latter’s dependency on the former arising either from weakness of mind or body, or through trust[.]” 

After addressing testimony of a handwriting expert about the validity of the will, the Court found that Dianne did not receive a great increase in assets from the will and that Rick acted independently in the decisions and actions taken to finalize his will.

For the opinion, click here.