Estate of Rodriguez, No. 13-16-00091-CV, 2017 WL 1228905 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi-Edinburg Mar. 2, 2017, no pet.).
The jury determined that Testator executed a will
and deed while being unduly influenced. The appellate court affirmed
holding that the evidence was legally sufficient to support the jury’s
verdict. For example, the alleged undue influencer lived with Testator,
used Testator’s funds to pay personal expenses, was present when
Testator executed the documents, and the documents favored one child
excluding seven others. While none of these factors alone is not
necessarily dispositive, taken together they were sufficient to support
a finding of undue influence.
Moral: Overturning a jury verdict of undue
influence is difficult and thus the proponent must make a vigorous
defense of the claim at trial.