Wills

We write a lot on this blog about the last will and testament. That’s because it’s an extremely important document to have, particularly when you have a large estate or a complicated family situation. It’s the only legal document that speaks for you after you’re gone to ensure your wishes are carried out with respect to your estate. But it can only do that if it’s valid.

The proliferation of fill-in-the-blank, do-it-yourself wills online may make it seem like last wills are simple documents. They can be, but they can also be a legal minefield. A number of cases having to do with the validity of a will make it as far as the South Carolina Court of Appeals or even the South Carolina Supreme Court every year. The underlying issue in these cases is almost always the same: the validity of the will.

With that in mind, today we’re going to look at a few of the most common challenges to the validity of a will in the state of South Carolina.

Procedural Errors

South Carolina code states that “An individual who is of sound mind and who is not a minor […] may make a will” with the following basic requirements for validity:

• The will must be in writing
• It must be signed by the testator, or by someone else in the testator’s name and presence
• It must be signed by at least two individuals who witness the testator’s signing or the testator’s acknowledgement of signing the will
• Amendments to a will must also be witnessed by two individuals (as we looked at in a recent blog)

An error such as a missing signature can lead to challenges of the validity of the will.

Note that South Carolina does not require a will to be notarized, as the law provides for self-proving (but it is strongly recommended). Also note that South Carolina generally accepts out-of-state wills as valid, even if the will does not meet South Carolina’s criteria, as long as it meets the requirements of the state in which it was executed.

Lack of Testamentary Capacity

South Carolina code quoted above states that the testator must be of “sound mind.” This may be surprising, but the required level of what’s called “testamentary capacity” to execute a will is relatively low. To put it in perspective, a higher level of mental competency is required to sign a contract.

In South Carolina, testamentary capacity demands that you know at a minimum two things:

1. The nature and extent of your bounty (that is, what you own)
2. The natural objects of your bounty (that is, your heirs and close relatives)

The presumption is that adults have the testamentary capacity to make a will. If someone challenges a will on the basis of testamentary capacity, claiming the testator was not of sound mind, it’s up to them to provide clear and convincing evidence of that fact. This may be evidence of senility, dementia, insanity, mental illness that compromises sound judgment, declining cognitive function or memory, or the like. Proof may come in the form of medical records or sworn statements by the testator’s health care providers, caretakers, or friends and family who witnessed the testator’s condition during the time in question.

Undue Influence

Another argument to challenge the validity of a will is undue influence. Undue influence occurs when a person influences or pressures the testator to change the terms of their will in the influencer’s favor. This influence takes away the testator’s free will and substitutes their own interests for those of the testator.

Undue influence may be tied together with lack of testamentary capacity, because it’s often an older person suffering from a degree of dementia or senility who is unduly influenced to change their will. The influencer may use tactics like physical force, threats, or isolation from family member and friends to get what they want.

If a will is challenged on these grounds, again, it’s up to the challenger to provide clear and convincing evidence that this is the case. (We recently touched on this issue of undue influence on a blog about no-contest clauses in wills, which you can read here.) Since undue influence can be more challenging to prove, let’s look at it more in-depth.

The Standard for Undue Influence

A recent case filed by the South Carolina Court of Appeals in April 2019 looks at the issue of undue influence, as well as testamentary capacity, when the validity of a will was challenged.

In short, Vinto Willis Tucker (Decedent) died in March 2012. He executed a will in January 2012 the same evening he discovered he had suffered an aneurysm. He did so by dictating the terms of his will to his niece in the presence of two witnesses, who confirmed that he raised the subject of a will and that his niece wrote down the terms as he requested.

The will divided his estate among twelve nieces and nephews but left out one niece and two nephews. In May 2013, Decedent’s sister, Mary Jean Tucker Swiger, petitioned for formal testacy, a proceeding to establish a valid will. She asserted that Decedent’s personal representatives (the niece who had written down Decedent’s will and a nephew) had exerted undue influence on him and sought to remove them as personal representatives.

In its decision, the Court of Appeals cited South Carolina code and other cases to establish a standard of review, including the following:

“Contestants of a will have the burden of establishing undue influence, fraud, duress, mistake, revocation, or lack of testamentary intent or capacity” S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-407

“Undue influence must be shown by unmistakable and convincing evidence, which is usually circumstantial.” Russell v Wachovia (2003)

“Generally, in cases where a will has been set aside for undue influence, there has been evidence either of threats, force, and/or restricted visitation, or of an existing fiduciary relationship.” Russell v Wachovia (2003)

“A mere showing of opportunity or motive does not create an issue of fact regarding undue influence.” In re Estate of Cumbee (1999)

In the Swiger v Smith case at hand, the challenger presented no evidence of undue influence. The opinion states that “significantly,” the challenger didn’t provide any evidence that the nephew and niece restricted visitation of the challenger’s side of the family (which included the disinherited niece and nephews). The Court concluded that the challenger “failed to provide more than a scintilla of evidence to establish undue influence” and that “Decedent had the testamentary capacity to dispose of his estate.” Therefore, the Court affirmed the lower court’s decision.

Ensuring Your Will is Valid

Having a last will go through litigation is something no one wants. It’s a time-consuming process that strains and destroys family relationships, eats up the estate’s resources, and makes private family information public. The best way to avoid this is to have a valid, up-to-date will.

Work with an experienced estate planning attorney to ensure your will is valid and is worded to carry out your wishes after you’re gone. Gem McDowell and his associates at the Gem McDowell Law Group in Mount Pleasant near Charleston, South Carolina can help you. They are experienced at handling estate planning for all kinds of estates whether they’re small, large, straightforward, or complicated. Call to schedule a consultation to discuss your estate plan. Call 843-284-1021 today.

We’ve stressed before on this blog why it’s important to have a last will and testament and why you need to keep it up to date. Not doing so can mean that your wishes aren’t carried out, which can lead to drawn out litigation and cause strife between family members and heirs.

It’s also important to make any changes to your will in a way that is valid and legally recognized. Here’s the right way to amend your will – and what happens if you don’t.

How to Correctly Amend Your Will in South Carolina

When you make your last will and testament, South Carolina code states that it must be signed by you (or by someone else in your name, in your presence and at your direction) and two individuals who either witnessed you signing it or your acknowledgement of signing it.

If you want to revoke your will entirely, you can do that either by getting a new one that contradicts the old one or by physically destroying the old one with the intent of revoking it.

However, if you want to make changes to just a section or two, you have to amend it. This requires a codicil, which is a legal document that amends specific parts of the will but leaves the rest as is. A codicil has the same requirements as the will in order for it to be valid: your signature and the signature of two witnesses.

Handwritten Changes Don’t Count

You may wonder whether you can simply strike out a clause in your will and/or make handwritten notes in order to change it. For example, let’s say you want to give your niece $20,000 instead of $10,000, or you want to cut out your nephew entirely.

The answer is no.

A recent case, filed by the South Carolina Court of Appeals in April 2019, centered around this issue. William D. Paradeses died in January 2016, leaving a will dated October 2008. The will was submitted to the probate court and was found to contain handwritten changes. Item IV(2), which would have given Faye Greeson (Eleanor Glisson) $50,000, was struck out, with the handwritten note “Omit #2 W.D. Paradeses” next to it. This led to a disagreement between family members over whether or not the handwritten changes – which were not witnessed – were valid.

The probate court said no, and the Court of Appeals agreed. It stated that this was an attempt at a codicil but didn’t meet the standards of a properly executed codicil, and therefore was invalid. The $50,000 bequest stands.

The lesson here is simple: if you want to make changes to your will, do it by correctly executing a codicil with witnesses, ideally after consulting with an estate planning attorney.

Written Memoranda: An Exception

There is an exception worth noting here. In South Carolina, you can include language in your will that allows for written memoranda. This is a document that’s in addition to the will that doesn’t require the signature of witnesses to be valid. However, it must either be written in the testator’s handwriting or signed by the testator.

The key point is that written memoranda only allows for the dispersal of tangible personal property. For example, you may use it to leave a beloved rocking chair to your grandchild, or a cuckoo clock to your sister. You may not use written memoranda to dispose of assets like stocks, bonds, or real property (real estate).

Experienced Advice for Your Estate Plan

Whether you want to make (valid) changes to your will, update it, or you don’t yet have will at all, you can get the help you need from estate planning attorney Gem McDowell and his associates at the Gem McDowell Law Group in Mount Pleasant, SC. Call today at 843-284-1021 to schedule your free consultation.

A no-contest clause, also known as an in terrorem clause, is a clause in a will or revocable trust that is intended to prevent parties from contesting the will or trust by penalizing them for doing so. For example, a no-contest clause in a will may state that any party that contests the will is barred from inheriting anything under the will. A no-contest clause is a deterrent to nuisance lawsuits and cash grabs by parties who may want to get more from the estate than the will or trust allows.

A no-contest clause can:

• Discourage years of expensive and time-consuming litigation over an estate
• Prevent bickering and strain between family members and heirs of the estate
• Keep the testator’s private details private (since private details may become public in litigation)

This is not a standard clause in most estate planning documents. It’s typically only included if the testator expects there may be some disagreement over the estate plan after their death. You may want to include one in your will or revocable trust if, for example, you have given some children a larger portion of your estate than your other children, or have disinherited a child altogether, and therefore might expect a challenge to your estate plan.

When a No-Contest Clause is Unenforceable

In general, these clauses are valid and enforceable.

But many jurisdictions have recognized certain circumstances where no-contest clauses are not valid and enforceable: If the party challenging the will or trust has probable cause. If they believe forgery is involved, or they believe the document is the result of undue influence or duress, then the no-contest clause can be held invalid and unenforceable.

A South Carolina Supreme Court case filed in 2006, Russell v Wachovia, looked at this very issue. The opinion cited a North Carolina case in which 6 of 10 children contested their deceased father’s will, citing undue influence and duress. In this case, the deceased was 90 years old when he died, had been in declining health for years, was “worn out and feeble,” and at times failed to recognize his own children. The children challenging the will also noted that two other daughters who stood to inherit a substantial amount were always present at their father’s home when they visited. The court ruled that in this case, the no-contest clause was not enforceable, as the children who contested the will had probable cause to do so. The evidence demonstrated that it was reasonable to believe their father’s estate plan may have been the product of undue influence or duress.

That was very different from the case at hand in Russell v Wachovia, in which two children filed actions to set aside their father’s will and trusts. The South Carolina Supreme Court ultimately found that the no-contest clauses were enforceable. The only evidence to support probable cause here was “strife and discord” in the family, and the fact that the two children who contested the estate plan weren’t treated as well as they believed their father intended. The Supreme Court did not find this to be probable cause to contest the estate in the first place, thus the no-contest clauses were upheld. The two children who contested the will were therefore not allowed to inherit anything under the will and trust they contested.

Creating a Strong No-Contest Clause

If you do want to add a no-contest clause to your will or revocable trust, there are a few things you can do that may strengthen its validity if your estate plan is ever contested. In Russell v Wachovia, the Supreme Court noted that the testator:

• Was in good physical and mental health when he created his estate plan, still working and taking care of himself
• Told one of his sons and his attorney that he anticipated a potential challenge to his will and trust after his death
• Asked a former law clerk of his (he was a judge) to represent his grandchildren, whom he made beneficiaries, in case of a challenge
• Visited a psychiatrist to create a record of his testamentary capacity, i.e., to certify that he was legally and mentally able to make a valid estate plan
• “And most importantly,” according to the Court, he amended his will and revocable trust to include language that explicitly barred any party contesting the documents from benefiting under them

Taken altogether, these points only helped strengthen the validity of the no-contest clauses, as they demonstrated that his estate plan was not made under duress or undue influence. The Court concluded that “If a no-contest clause cannot be upheld under these facts, such a clause would not ever be enforceable.”

Get Help Creating a Strong and Enforceable Estate Plan

Estate planning can be complex, especially if you have a substantial estate, a large or blended family, or own a business. Having a solid estate plan is the best way to ensure your wishes will be carried out and can help keep peace in the family. For help with your estate planning documents, contact the Gem McDowell Law Group in Mt. Pleasant. Gem McDowell and his associatess are problem solvers who can develop the estate plan you need to protect your assets and your family. Call 843-284-1021 today to schedule your free consultation.