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One Weird Estate Planning Concept You Need to Know

One Weird Estate Planning Concept You Need to Know

So your parents have a Last will and Testament or a Living Trust. Great. It was signed by all the proper parties, contains the proper language, and appoints the proper people. Wonderful. And to top it all off, the attorney's gave you an unbelievable deal. Excellent (unlikely, but excellent). The problem? Those documents can still be thrown out by the court if your parents lacked one key thing: testamentary capacity.

What is Testamentary Capacity?

We lawyers sure do like our big words. Fortunately for everyone, testamentary capacity boils down to a pretty simple idea: Does the person signing a Will or Trust understand what they're signing? To have testamentary capacity in Oklahoma, the testator (the person signing the Will or Trust) must understand, in a general way, (1) the quality and quantity of his or her property (sometimes called their "bounty"), (2) the natural objects of his or her bounty (i.e., who should logically inherit their property), and (3) the legal effect of signing the document.

How to Recognize Fraud in Estate Planning

How to Recognize Fraud in Estate Planning

Suppose your mother has dementia. Her nurse convinces her that he is her only child and has her sign estate planning documents leaving all of her assets to him and expressly disinheriting you and any of her other children. Are those documents valid? Likely not, as your mother has been the victim of fraud.

What is fraud?

There are several ways fraud can be committed in the estate planning process, but the type of fraud we will discuss in this article is referred to as fraudulent inducement. Let's say your mother executed a Last Will and Testament. You could challenge that Will if your mother was fraudulently induced into leaving her property to a person she would not normally have left it (in the example above, the nurse).

4 Tips to Identify Undue Influence

4 Tips to Identify Undue Influence

Imagine your father is elderly, handicapped, and requires in-home care.

He develops a close relationship with his caretaker, who is much younger than he is. When your father passes away, you assume that all his assets will be left to you and your siblings. 

However, the caretaker comes forward with a Will signed by your dad a week before his death — and it leaves everything to her!

Seems fishy, right? This is a classic case of undue influence.

What is Undue Influence?

In Oklahoma, undue influence consists of taking an unfair advantage of another's weakness of mind or body or the use of authority to procure an unfair advantage over someone.

Put another way, undue influence occurs when someone exerts pressure on an individual, causing him or her to act contrary to his or her wishes and to the benefit of the influencer.

4 Ways to Challenge an Estate Plan

4 Ways to Challenge an Estate Plan

Estate planning is meant to provide certainty and security to your loved ones. So how would you feel if, after your death, your estate plan were ignored? How would you feel if a probate court tossed it out and decided to do things differently? (Trick question: You're dead, so you can't feel at all.) Unfortunately, these are very real possibilities if your estate plan is successfully contested.

How Can My Estate Plan Be Challenged?

Understanding how your estate plan can be contested is the first step to making sure it won't be contested. That is why we are dedicating our next few blog posts to discussing the different ways an estate plan can be challenged in Oklahoma. Links to each new article in this series will be posted below as they are published:

How Do I Keep My Kids From Fighting Over My Estate?

How Do I Keep My Kids From Fighting Over My Estate?

As a parent, you undoubtedly want your children to have successful and happy lives. And while money is not the only measure of success, you may want to give your kids assistance when it comes to finances. Many people utilize their estate plans to leave inheritances to their children to help them with financial and other aspects of their lives.

I am worried my kids will fight over my estate!

If you have multiple children, you likely want to leave each child his or her fair share of your estate. But this task is not always as easy as it sounds. Each child may be attached to different assets, and their lives may present different hardships and successes that make certain assets more desirable for them. If you don't take these factors into account, your kids could end up fighting over your estate even if you have a well-designed estate plan - especially if probate becomes necessary. Luckily, there are certain steps you can take to help mitigate these disputes or avoid them entirely.