In re Estate of Flohl, 2D99-2801.
| Decision Date | 21 July 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 2D99-2801.,2D99-2801. |
| Parties | In re ESTATE OF Walter William FLOHL, Deceased. Virginia Greenwood, Appellant, v. George Flohl, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Michael S. Edenfield of Battle & Edenfield, P.A., Brandon, for Appellant.
J. Scott Taylor of J. Scott Taylor, P.A., Tampa, for Appellee.
Following the death of Walter William Flohl (Mr. Flohl), appellee George Flohl, the decedent's son, commenced this action by filing a petition for the appointment of a curator. Immediately thereafter, appellant Virginia Greenwood filed her petition for administration, offering for probate the decedent's Last Will and Testament. The trial court admitted the will to probate and appointed Mrs. Greenwood as personal representative of Mr. Flohl's estate, over the son's objection. The son petitioned to remove Mrs. Greenwood as personal representative and to revoke probate of his father's will on the ground that Mrs. Greenwood had exercised undue influence over the decedent in procuring the will. On appeal, Mrs. Greenwood challenges the trial court's order which grants the son's petitions. Because the record fails to support the trial court's findings of undue influence, we reverse.
Mr. Flohl and Mrs. Greenwood met when Mr. Flohl, a mechanic, helped Mrs. Greenwood with some car problems. Over time, a relationship developed between them and, eventually, Mrs. Greenwood moved into Mr. Flohl's residence. At the time, Mr. Flohl was 80 years old and Mrs. Greenwood was 75 years old. Mr. Flohl enjoyed good health, and in fact, worked as a mechanic until the year before he died at 83 years of age.
In September 1997, while driving to the lawyer's office, Mr. Flohl advised Mrs. Greenwood that he planned to make a new will. Mrs. Greenwood claimed that she and Mr. Flohl had not previously discussed his intention to do so. Mr. Flohl instructed his lawyer to name Mrs. Greenwood as the primary beneficiary and personal representative of his will. In the final draft of the will, Mr. Flohl's son received nothing. Mr. Flohl executed the will in the presence of the lawyer and two of the lawyer's employees. The lawyer retained the original will. The lawyer also prepared a will for Mrs. Greenwood, who left her entire estate to Mr. Flohl. Mrs. Greenwood's estate had a value of approximately three times that of Mr. Flohl's estate.
The lawyer testified at trial that he had been practicing law for 19 years and prepared an average of 300 to 350 wills per year. He had experience with clients whom he felt had a cognitive impairment. It was his opinion that Mr. Flohl had no such impairment. The lawyer felt that Mr. Flohl
The son presented witnesses, Harold and Martha Dietrichson, who had been friends of Mr. Flohl and his late wife for many years. They testified by videotape that they felt Mr. Flohl had withdrawn from their company and was not himself in the years after he met Mrs. Greenwood. They felt that he had wronged his son by leaving him out of his will. Likewise, Earl Miller, another friend of the family, was of the opinion that Mr. Flohl should have left his estate to his son.
The rule of law in this state is that, once the party offering a will for probate has proved the formal execution and attestation of the will, the burden of proof shifts to the person challenging the will to prove facts sufficient to justify revocation of probate. See § 733.107, Fla. Stat. (1997); Estate of Brock, 692 So.2d 907 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). Here, the lawyer who prepared Mr. Flohl's will testified that it was duly executed, witnessed, and notarized on October 27, 1997. Mrs. Greenwood offered the will into evidence, and it was accepted without objection. Thus, the burden shifted to the son to prove by the greater weight of evidence that the will should be revoked.
In his petition to remove Mrs. Greenwood as personal representative and his ...
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Derovanesian v. Derovanesian
...dispositional intent she so clearly evidenced to her attorney and in her will. Langford, 552 So.2d at 968-969. See In re Estate of Flohl, 764 So.2d 802 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000); Pavlides v. Roussis, 764 So.2d 769 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000); Raimi v. Furlong, 702 So.2d 1273 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997),review denie......
- Eure v. State, 2D99-1671.
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Newman v. Brecher, 4D03-2680.
...to this case. The third district found them insufficient to establish active procurement or undue influence. See also Flohl v. Flohl, 764 So.2d 802 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). The trial judge found that the only evidence of undue influence was that Rose changed her 1988 will in 1991 and 1992. The c......
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Trusts & estates
...of proof shifts to the person challenging the will to prove facts sufficient to justify revocation of probate. In re Estate of Flohl , 764 So. 2d 802, 803 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). The person challenging the will then must prove undue influence by the greater weight of the evidence. Id. §19:20.5 ......