In 1982, Ruth Hope Burchard prepared a Will. Seventeen years later, with the assistance of Henry Burchard,1Ruth prepared a new will, in which Henry, who would have received nothing under the 1982 Will, was to receive approximately one-seventh of Ruth’s estate. Following Ruth’s death, Henry filed a Petition to Probate the 1999 Will in the Probate Court of Walker County, and three of Ruth’s heirs —her great niece, Gayle Burchard Corrington, and her great nephews, Gary Burchard and Douglas Davis hereinafter collectively the “Burchards” —filed a Caveat to the probate of the 1999 Will. Following a hearing, the probate court entered an order in favor of Henry. The Burchards appealed to the Superior Court of Walker County, and, following a bench trial, the superior court entered an order finding that Ruth did not have the mental capacity to make the 1999 Will and that Ruth was under undue influence at the time that the Will was created. The superior court accordingly declared the 1999 Will invalid, prompting Henry to appeal. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the superior court’s decision, the record reveals that, in April 1996, the Burchards visited Ruth, and, at that time, Ruth appeared puzzled and had difficulty recognizing these familiar members of her family. Two weeks later, the Burchards visited Ruth again, and Ruth appeared disoriented and confused, and she had no recollection of the Burchards’ prior visit to her. Soon after this visit, on May 1, 1996, Ruth was in a car accident in which she suffered severe injuries. At the time of the accident, Ruth was 84 years old. A doctor who examined Ruth after the accident noted that she was disoriented, confused, and not competent to make any decisions, legal or otherwise, on her own behalf. After her release from the hospital, Ruth moved into Henry’s home. In August 1996, Henry set up a conservatorship in Tennessee establishing himself as Ruth’s guardian, based on findings by the Chancery Court of Hamilton County that Ruth was “a disabled person who was disoriented and confused, and whose prognosis was uncertain.” A year later, Ruth’s Guardian Ad Litem interviewed her, and opined that, “objectively speaking, Ruth was incapable of caring for herself, ostensibly lacking the presence of mind necessary to prepare her meals, administer prescribed medication and attend to personal hygiene.” A year and a half later, on February 1, 1999, Henry and his wife took Ruth to see attorney Barry Benton in Calhoun, Georgia, to execute a new Will that was prepared by attorney Benton. Under this new 1999 Will, Henry would receive over $350,000.
Three months later, Henry and his wife successfully petitioned the Walker County Probate Court to have the Tennessee conservatorship transferred to Georgia, keeping them as Ruth’s guardians, and to have Ruth declared incapable of managing her estate because she “lacked sufficient . . . capacity to make significant responsible decisions concerning her person.” In connection with this petition, a doctor examined Ruth and determined that she was exhibiting mental and physical signs that were consistent with Alzheimer’s dementia. Ruth died on January 7, 2006.
