In Re the Estate of Margaret A. West

Summary

The Supreme Court of Delaware reversed the Court of Chancery’s invalidation of Margaret West’s 1984 will. It agreed that West possessed testamentary capacity and held that the contestant failed to prove the actual exertion and effect of undue influence by a preponderance of the evidence. The court concluded that opportunity, motive, illness, and a changed disposition of property were insufficient without evidence that the beneficiary actually overcame the testatrix’s free will.