Articles and Resources for Attorneys

These resources are intended to help attorneys identify the psychiatric, behavioral, and evidentiary issues that commonly arise in cases involving undue influence, testamentary capacity, mental capacity, elder financial exploitation, coercion, and vulnerability to manipulation.

Need Case-Specific Analysis?

Attorneys seeking case-specific assistance may review Dr. Blum’s services concerning undue influence and coercive influence,elder financial exploitation and fiduciary abuse, testamentary capacityand other mental capacity matters, and forensic psychiatry litigation consulting. For a preliminary conflict check, submit a non-confidential attorney case inquiry.

Undue Influence and Coercion

• Understanding Undue Influence in Litigation – defines undue influence and outlines key factors, such as overt coercion versus false goodwill.

• Betrayal and Undue Influence : A Forensic Framework – explains how counsel can distinguish betrayal, deception, exploitation, coercion, trauma, suffering, and legally defined torture.

• Susceptibility and Vulnerability in Undue Influence Cases – explains factors that make individuals susceptible.

• Suspicious Circumstances and Active Procurement in Probate Litigation – identifies red flags in probate and financial abuse cases.

• Behavioral Models for Evaluating Undue Influence Claims– surveys the SCAM, SODR, IDEAL and thought‑reform models.

• The IDEAL Protocol and Undue Influence Worksheet – IDEAL protocol worksheet used to evaluate undue influence claims.

Mental Capacity and Testamentary Capacity

• Retrospective Testamentary Capacity Analysis: Evidence, Method, and Limits – explains how to define the operative legal question, weigh sources, reconstruct time-specific function, test competing explanations, and state the limits of a retrospective opinion.

• Mental Capacity, Competency, and Litigation Standards – mental capacity vs legal competency, strategic, litigation-based analysis.

• Dementia, Delirium, and Retrospective Capacity Reconstruction – examines dementia and capacity issues in litigation.

• Psychological Testing, PARADISE-2, and Behavior-Based Evidence – introduces a behavior‑based protocol for assessing capacity.

Expert Witness and Litigation Consulting

• Early Forensic Psychiatry Consultation in Complex Litigation– explains when and how to retain a forensic psychiatry expert.

• Forensic Psychiatry Expert Witness and Litigation Consulting Services – how forensic experts support complex cases.

• Screening Experts in Capacity and Undue Influence Cases – explains how counsel can evaluate fit, method, independence, communication style, and case-specific expertise.

Elder Financial Exploitation and Fiduciary Abuse

• Elder Financial Exploitation Expert Witness and Litigation Consultant— describes the forensic psychiatric analysis of capacity, vulnerability, consent, undue influence, coercion, and decision-making in disputed financial transactions.

• Elder Financial Exploitation: Why “Competent” Is Often the Wrong Question– Explains why a transaction-specific analysis is often more useful than a global label of competence when a transfer, deed, beneficiary change, gift, guarantee, or trust amendment is disputed.

Business, Financial, and Professional‑Misconduct Matters

• Financial Professionals, Fiduciaries, and Vulnerable Clients– discusses undue influence issues among financial advisors and fiduciaries.

• Medical Decision-Making, Consent, and Undue Influence Claims – covers undue influence issues in medical contexts.

• Religious Authority, Dependency, and Coercive Influence – addresses risks within clergy or spiritual advisors.

• Professional Misconduct, Consent, and Undue Influence Claims – summarizes the intersection of undue influence and professional misconduct.

• Prenuptial Agreements, Blended Families, and Coercive Influence– explores family‑law scenarios with undue influence concerns.

Selected International and High‑Stakes Matters

• International Tribunal Work and High-Stakes Capacity Questions – examines war‑crimes cases and diminished capacity.

For selected complex matters, attorneys may submit a non‑confidential case inquiry through the Contact page. Do not send confidential materials before conflicts have been checked and a written agreement is in place.