With our aging population’s increasing reliance on the assistance of others, we thought we would again look at some of the implications of the relationship being characterized as a confidential one.
In a challenge to a will or a proceeding to recover assets from a donee on the grounds of undue influence, where the facts suggest that the alleged perpetrator was in a confidential relationship with the decedent, the existence of a confidential relationship increases the likelihood of a successful challenge. However, before victory is assumed, there is a preliminary hurdle to meet, namely, a “requisite threshold showing that a confidential relationship existed.” In a recent case, Matter of Prievo v. Urbaniak1 (Prievo), the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, found that the lower court erred when it charged the jury that a beneficiary had a confidential relationship with the decedent as a matter of law rather than as an issue of fact. The distinction may be critical to an analysis of a client’s case.
Underlying Burden of Proof
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