SUNY at Stony Brook Validity of Wills Business Law Discussion Questions

Validity of Wills

I love this case – I see this kind of stuff all of the time in my elder-law practice (both for Wills and Durable Powers of Attorney).

In the last fourteen years of Renee Wagner’s life, Sean O’Brien, a Baptist pastor, became her spiritual adviser and close personal friend. O’Brien – and no one else – actively participated in helping Wagner draft her will. He gave Wagner a church-sponsored booklet on will drafting, recommended an attorney (a church member) to do the drafting, and reviewed the terms of the will with Wagner. When Wagner died, she left most of her estate to O’Brien’s church. O’Brien personally received nothing under the will. Wagner’s nephew and only heir, Kiernan Niven, filed a suit against O’Brien in an Oklahoma state court to contest the will, arguing that O’Brien unduly influenced Wagner. Can a party who receives nothing under a will be regarded as having exercised undue influence over the testator? What should the court in Wagner’s case do?