UNDULY INFLUENCED INTO MAKING A WILL

UNDULY INFLUENCED INTO MAKING A WILL

The Welsh Government recently introduced changes which give local authorities greater power to regulate the use of primary homes as second/ holiday homes or short term holiday lets.

Jonathan stood to benefit from a cash gift of £400,000 in the 2017 Will, whereas he did not benefit at all in Julie’s previous 2012 Will.

Undue influence is where a person is influenced so profoundly by another, that they can no longer be seen to be acting of their own free will. In the circumstances of a Will dispute the court will need to be satisfied that the influence was so severe that the will maker’s own wishes were overpowered, resulting in a Will which would not have been made, had it not been for the undue influence placed upon them.

Claims of Undue Influence, in the context of a Will dispute are challenging claims to establish, due to the nature of the act usually taking place in secret, and the primary witness, the Will maker, being unable to testify at the point the claim is being made, after their death.

This claim was unusual as Candice had placed cameras in her mother’s home to monitor visitors. These cameras recorded conversations between Jonathan and her mother resulting in evidence that Jonathan had persuaded Julie to leave him £400,000 in a new Will by poisoning Julie’s mind against her daughter, and making her believe falsely that her daughter would gain control over Julies’ home, force her out and place her in a care home.

Julie had suffered with dementia since 2013. Being vulnerable, Julie was more susceptible to the influence. Candice’s case was that Jonathan “began playing on and exploiting Mrs Harrison’s deteriorating capacity in order to persuade her wrongly that her daughter was treating her unfairly, was only interested in money, was unfairly preventing her from managing her own affairs, and was, for example, contemplating selling her house to put Mrs Harrison in a care home.”

Having considered the evidence, the judge stated that Jonathan had “embarked on a campaign of influence, which amounted to undue influence”.

The 2017 Will was rendered invalid and the 2012 Will declared to be the last valid Will. Jonathan will not benefit under Julie’s estate and as the losing party he was ordered to make payment in the sum of £120,000 towards Candice’s legal costs, as well as being responsible for his own legal costs.

This case demonstrates the importance of contemporaneous evidence in claims based on undue influence which are notoriously difficult to establish.