Opinion ID: 1983667
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Board Case 38, 1992 The Bow Estate

Text: McCann represented Mr. Gerald and Mrs. Frances L. Bow on various matters, including the preparation of their wills before they moved from Delaware to Florida in 1982. Mr. Bow died in 1982, and McCann continued to provide legal service and advice to Mrs. Bow without compensation. McCann did this because of his friendship with Mr. and Mrs. Bow. This friendship was so close that Mrs. Bow referred to him as a nephew and he referred to her as aunt, although there was no family relationship. In 1985, Mrs. Bow obtained Florida counsel to prepare a will, pursuant to which Mrs. Bow left ten percent of her estate to her friend McCann. McCann was not aware of this version of Mrs. Bow's will at the time. In 1990, Mrs. Bow contacted McCann to update portions of her will. At Mrs. Bow's request, McCann changed Mrs. Bow's reference to him in her will from friend to nephew and named himself as Mrs. Bow's personal representative. The ten percent bequest in the 1985 will was continued in the 1990 will. A few months after she executed the will, Mrs. Bow died. McCann retained Florida counsel and McCann executed a Petition for Administration (the Petition). The Petition, which contained a declaration that its contents were certified by McCann as true under penalty of perjury, referred to McCann as Mrs. Bow's nephew. McCann then was appointed as Mrs. Bow's personal representative. McCann testified that there was later unrelated family litigation over the 1990 will, and questions were raised over McCann's role as personal representative since he was not a nephew. McCann then resigned as Mrs. Bow's personal representative. McCann gained no direct benefit from Mrs. Bow's 1990 will beyond the ten percent bequest which had been in her 1985 will.