Opinion ID: 2119172
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: will showing the effect of influence.

Text: The final element to be considered is whether the will clearly shows the effect of undue influence. It can not be disputed that the proponents stand to benefit handsomely under the terms of decedent's will. Had contestants successfully established the other elements of undue influence, this final element would be the capstone necessary to establish a successful challenge to the will. In the present case, the contestants have failed to establish the necessary prerequisites that would cast the disposition of decedent's property in an unfavorable light. In view of that failure we must conclude that decedent was appreciative of the many acts of kindness shown to him by the proponents and that he wished to reward them for this behavior. This appropriate motivation of decedent, coupled with contestants' total disregard of decedent in the final years of his life, does not substantiate the evil intent ascribed to this disposition by the contestants. As we said in In Re Blake's Estate, 81 S.D. 391, 398, 136 N.W.2d 242, 246 (1965): A testator has the privilege and right to dispose of his property as he chooses within limits and in the manner fixed by statute. The law does not require that he recognize his relatives equally or at all. The language used by this court in In Re Swanson's Estate, 54 S.D. 42, 45, 222 N.W. 491, 492 (1928), is appropriate here: To hold that the will involved in this case was procured by undue influence amounts to a holding that a son or a daughter [or other relative] who is given preference in a will has exerted undue influence by the mere act of remaining with aged parents, and, at a cost of self-sacrifice, aiding them and caring for them until their infirmities end in death. To that extent neither this court nor courts generally have seen fit to go. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court must be affirmed. WOLLMAN, C. J., and MORGAN, J., concur. DUNN and HENDERSON, JJ., dissent. TICE, Circuit Judge, sitting for FOSHEIM, J., disqualified.