Stilll More Suspicious Circumstances - Active Procurement
The following indicia are used by some Courts in Will contests
to determine "active procurement" by a beneficiary. These come from Florida law and the case "Estate
of Carpenter," but other States often use similar criteria:
1. Isolating the testator and disparaging family members
2. Mental inequality between
the decedent and the beneficiary
3. The reasonableness of the will or trust provisions
4. Presence of the beneficiary at the execution of the will
5. Presence of the
beneficiary on those occasions when the testator expressed a desire to make
a will
6. Recommendation by the beneficiary of an attorney to draw the will
7. Knowledge of the contents of
the will by the beneficiary prior to execution
8. Giving of instructions on preparation of the will by the
beneficiary to the attorney drawing the will
9. Securing of witnesses
to the will by the beneficiary
10. Safekeeping of the will by the beneficiary subsequent to execution
