Why It Is Important to Have an Attorney Advise You Regarding Wills
The following account demonstrates the importance of having a qualified attorney supervise the proper execution of a will to ensure its validity.
Arthur Burton died in March 2000 at the age of ninety. Stella, his wife of sixty-five years had died in 1997. At the time that Stella died, Arthur lived in a condominium in his hometown. Soon, at the request of his son, Artie, he moved to his son's house in a neighboring town to live with his son and his daughter-in-law, Regina. While Arthur was living with Artie and Regina, Artie suddenly died. Thereafter, Regina became irrationally upset with Arthur because she thought that he, rather than her husband, should have died.
Under pressure from Regina, in September 1998, Arthur executed a will leaving all of his assets to Regina. The will was prepared by a relative of Regina.
Regina continued a campaign of harassment of Arthur, saying such things to him as "you should have died instead of my husband" and demanding that he return things given to him by Artie. Due to Regina's harassment, Arthur moved back to his hometown. The members of his church assisted him in his move back to his condominium and located a person to stay with him and care for him. Father Smith, the pastor of the church, was particularly helpful in taking Arthur to and from doctor's appointments, picking up prescriptions from the pharmacy, and visiting with him on a regular basis. Father Smith did this at Arthur's request because Regina would launch into tirades against Arthur whenever she took him to his appointments.
In August 1999, Arthur asked Father Smith to find him an attorney to assist him with his estate plan. Father Smith did not known any qualified attorneys, but asked Mark Anderson, a financial planner, to meet with Arthur. Arthur had by this time left his home and moved into an assisted-care facility. Mr. Anderson met with Arthur and correctly ascertained Arthur's wishes to revoke his will and name the church as the primary beneficiary under a new will. Arthur stated to Mr. Anderson that he would rather die intestate (without a will) than have a will in effect which gave his assets to Regina. In the event of Arthur's intestate death, his estate would go to distant relatives or to the state rather than to Regina.
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