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Wills • Capacity
WILLS#020
Legal Definition
When fraud prevents someone from creating a will, some courts may impose a constructive trust on the heirs, even if they did not commit the fraud.
Plain English Explanation
This is sort of like the opposite of fraud in the inducement. Whereas fraud in the inducement involves someone lying to a testator in order to influence their creation of a will, sometimes people will be motivated to lie in order to prevent a testator from creating a will. For example, if an heir would likely benefit more from intestacy laws (the default laws applied by a state to split up an estate when no will is present), they may be motivated to mislead or prevent the testator from executing a will.
In such situations, the court steps in to try to make things right. You may notice the word "constructive" from other cards. It usually implies that a court has stepped in and created a legal fiction to right a wrong. For example, constructive eviction applies in property law to circumstances where a tenant has been practically evicted, even if they aren't technically or legally evicted, so the court, to allow the tenant to pursue damages, calls it "constructive eviction.
Here, to right the wrong, the court creates a constructive trust. A trust (something you'll learn more about in the Trust deck) is a legal arrangement where someone holds property for the benefit of another. Thus, a constructive trust is one that the court forces upon a person who holds property and makes them either transfer it to another person.
In such situations, the court steps in to try to make things right. You may notice the word "constructive" from other cards. It usually implies that a court has stepped in and created a legal fiction to right a wrong. For example, constructive eviction applies in property law to circumstances where a tenant has been practically evicted, even if they aren't technically or legally evicted, so the court, to allow the tenant to pursue damages, calls it "constructive eviction.
Here, to right the wrong, the court creates a constructive trust. A trust (something you'll learn more about in the Trust deck) is a legal arrangement where someone holds property for the benefit of another. Thus, a constructive trust is one that the court forces upon a person who holds property and makes them either transfer it to another person.
Hypothetical
Hypo 1: Bob has 2 sons, Timmy and Junior. Timmy lives with Bob and mooches off him while Junior has moved out and built a successful career. Bob doesn't want to spoil or reward Timmy for being lazy, so he wants to create a will that leaves 95% of his estate to Junior and only 5% to Timmy. However, under the state's intestacy laws, Timmy and Junior would split Bob's estate 50-50. Timmy learns of this and decides to tell Bob, "I was speaking to an attorney today and he told me that in our state, a son that lives with their Dad only gets 5% of an estate, so there's no need to put it in a will." Bob was surprised, but agreed and, months later, died without a will. Result: Under the intestacy laws, Timmy and Junior will each receive 50% of Bob's estate, however, because Timmy preventing Bob from creating a will through deception, the court may impose a constructive trust on the portion of the estate Timmy received in order to provide most of it to Junior to better reflect Bob's initial desires.
Related Concepts
How do you make a prima facie case for undue influence?
In California, can an attorney who drafts a will for their client be a beneficiary?
In California, when is there a statutory presumption of undue influence?
In California, when is there no presumption of undue influence for a donative transfer?
What is an insane delusion?
What is fraud in the execution?
What is fraud in the inducement?
What is required for valid testamentary capacity?
What is required to establish fraud?
What is undue influence?
What relief is available if mistake in the inducement occurs?
When assessing undue influence, what is the presumption test?
When does a mistake in the execution occur and what is the result?
