This case involved an elderly client who was tricked by her daughter into signing a quitclaim deed for her home. The client had six adult children, but because this daughter had taken on the role of managing her mother’s financial affairs, the other children were unaware of the transaction. After the client’s husband passed away, she requested that an estate plan be prepared to distribute her property equally among her children upon her death or incapacity.
Her daughter took her to a friend who was an estate-planning attorney. The attorney told the client she should create a “secret trust” but instead prepared documents that granted the daughter immediate power of attorney over the client’s assets, as well as a quitclaim deed transferring the client’s home solely to the daughter and one of her brothers. The attorney improperly held a joint meeting with both the daughter and the client, instead of meeting privately with the client, which allowed the daughter to exert undue influence and resulted in a transaction that did not reflect the client’s wishes.
Following this, the daughter attempted to divert the client’s bank funds and life insurance proceeds for her own benefit.
We filed a complaint for financial elder abuse, fraud, and conversion against the daughter, the son, and the estate-planning attorney. Through discovery, we uncovered evidence supporting our client’s claims. Just before trial, the daughter attempted to derail the litigation by filing a meritless conservatorship petition seeking control over the client’s person and property. However, the petition was not supported by any medical evidence indicating that the client required a conservator, and it was dismissed.
We proceeded to a jury trial, a rarity in elder abuse cases, and after five days, secured a plaintiff’s verdict in favor of our client. The jury found that both the daughter and the attorney had committed financial elder abuse by taking the client’s property through fraud or undue influence. The jury also found the attorney liable for punitive damages.
On our client’s equitable claim for cancellation of deed, the court ruled in her favor, canceled the quitclaim deed, and returned title to the property to our client. The court also rejected the daughter’s cross-complaint for partition and quiet title and awarded attorneys’ fees and costs to our client.
Although the defendants filed an appeal and delayed the outcome for over a year, the judgment canceling the deed and awarding fees and costs was ultimately upheld. The final judgment resulted in an award of $159,567.07 against both defendants, plus an additional $4,000 against the daughter, and $10,000 in punitive damages against the attorney.
