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Family Feud? HOW UNDUE INFLUENCE CAN TEAR FAMILIES APART One of the greatest fears we can experience is someone taking advantage of our aging parents. We’ve all heard a horror story or two about an elderly parent’s new spouse convincing them to leave all of their possessions to them instead of their children. It’s led many to wonder what they could do if they find themselves in a similar situation. Through an undue influence claim, you can challenge a will or estate planning document you believe was influenced by an outside party. In our line of work, we’ve seen many parents change their will at the end of their lives. Those left off will often contact us or another law firm, claiming that their parent had dementia or wasn’t in the right mental state to make those changes. From there, we have to prove that undue influence is at play.
With summer break tragically ending (as it does, sadly, every year), it is time to get back in the groove and prepare for the new school year. If you want to help your kids get over the first-day jitters and start out strong, employ these tips to make their first day back at class so successful that others will want to study it. Getting a Head Start According to research by the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity, students lose as much as 25%–30% of the knowledge they accumulated the previous school year over summer break. Reading and math skills are particularly affected and see the highest regression rate. And the higher the grade level, the more students are likely to forget. The best way to combat this summer slump is to keep learning. Reading books and practicing arithmetic at least three times a week will help kids maintain what they have previously worked so hard to learn. Shopping Spree Students also want to come to school prepared! Shopping for school supplies is a great way to get everything they need for the year ahead, including a snazzy new outfit for the first day, notebooks, organizers, and favorite brands of pens and pencils. It’s also important to write names in notebooks to make them easier to identify if they end up in the lost and found! Mental Map No one likes getting lost. Whether returning to the same school as last year or heading into a new environment, finding one’s way can be daunting. If your kids arrive at school early, they can figure out where each class is and plot a path beforehand. Getting a feel for where they need to go throughout the day can be a great way to help them feel more prepared and comfortable. Many schools also have physical maps, which can be a great resource to store in a backpack if they ever feel lost. Tips for a Successful First Day of Class Back to School
There are three requirements for undue influence. The first is that the person in question is vulnerable, whether
it’s due to declining mental function or some other situation. Then, there needs to be someone in a position to exert their influence over the vulnerable person. And finally, the terms need to benefit the individual exerting influence. It’s not easy to prove undue influence, especially when you don’t have any direct evidence. We recently worked on a case where an individual’s father was basically in a vegetative state. He had two children, and a month before he passed, one of the children produced a new will that stated that everything would go to them instead of both children. They submitted the new will to probate court, which will be used to divvy out the assets. Proving undue influence in this case was difficult. To figure out if this was the father’s intent, we had to get medical records and his doctor to state that the father didn’t have the requisite mental capacity. Unfortunately, there are good days and bad days with dementia, and you can’t always prove the changes were made on a bad day. If you have an estate plan and want to make changes, let your children know so everyone is on the same page. Dealing with loss is hard enough without any extra challenges.
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