Bibliography and Resources on High Yield Securities and Elderly Investors: Risks and Remedies

Massachusetts Appeals Court Decision:
Elders Need the Protection of an In-Person Meetings with their Estate Planning Attorney

Internet vendors who sell wills and trusts claim their customers get peace of mind by preparing these important documents online. Can “do-it-yourself” documents really provide peace of mind when a person is burdened with serious health problems and diminished capacity?

Consumers pay the document vendor online, then they print out their documents and sign the papers with witnesses they find on their own. The witnesses may be friends, neighbors, or employees of their bank. But who is responsible to make sure that documents are correct? Who will be able to explain the circumstances of the signing if anyone challenges the documents in the future?

A Massachusetts court case issued this summer illustrates how costly and heart breaking litigation can result when documents are prepared and signed without the active involvement of an estate planning attorney.

The July, 2011 Appeals Court decision in Paine v. Sullivan describes the dementia, confusion, and increasing forgetfulness of John L. Sullivan, a 92 year old dementia patient who signed his last will and testament in 2004, without meeting the attorney who drafted the document.

Medical records from 2001 showed “significant frontal dysfunction with poor insight and judgment.” A neuropsychological evaluation in 2001 explained the patient’s need for close supervision. By 2003 a personal care attendant was needed 24/7.

In the midst of this declining capacity, Mr. Sullivan signed will documents that left only $1.00 to his adopted daughter, Valerie Sullivan. She had previously been named as a beneficiary in a will document that Mr. Sullivan signed in 1995. The attorney who drafted the will documents in 2002 and 2004 did not meet with Mr. Sullivan. Instead, the attorney spoke by telephone with Mr. Sullivan, who “simply confirmed that he was in accord with the instructions” of Odette, Mr. Sullivan’s spouse. Odette passed away in 2004.

After Mr. Sullivan passed in 2006, the costly court battles began over his will.

Valerie, Mr. Sullivan’s adopted daughter, presented a copy of the 1995 will, and objected to the last will and testament that had left her only $1.00 in 2004. Her grounds were undue influence, and that Mr. Sullivan did not have capacity to understand and sign a will in 2004. The Appeals Court agreed with Valerie on the latter objection.

Read more: Expert and attorney testimony fails to establish Mr. Sullivan's capacity to sign the will in 2004. >>

How an elder law attorney can prepare a will that protects your interests, with examples from the Paine v. Sullivan case. >>

Full case decision: Paine v. Sullivan:

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Massachusetts and Connecticut Probate of Wills, Reformation of Trusts, Guardianship - Conservatorship, Probate Litigation.