Court Opinion

ID: 9735105
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:01:58.270215+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:55.290130
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice
(concurring).
I agree with the majority that where one contesting a will establishes 1) that a person in a confidential relationship with the testator 2) receives a substantial benefit under the will and 3) that the testator was of weakened intellect, a presumption of undue influence arises. The effect of this presumption is to shift the burden of producing evidence and the risk of non-persuasion on the issue of undue influence to the proponent.
However, I cannot agree with the majority’s assertion that this presumption is a “substitute” for clear and convincing evidence. The presumption is merely a means by which a contestant can establish undue influence circumstantially by proving opportunity for the exertion of undue influence and the possible fruits thereof. *68We have previously held that a contestant who seeks to prove undue influence directly must do so by clear and convincing evidence. Brantlinger Will, 418 Pa. 236, 250, 210 A.2d 246, 254 (1965). There is no reason in policy or logic why a contestant attempting to show undue influence circumstantially should not also be required to come forward with clear and convincing evidence.
Once the presumption has been established, the proponent can prove the validity of the challenged gift by clear and convincing evidence that it was not the result of undue influence. Button’s Estate, 459 Pa. 234, 240-241, 328 A.2d 480, 484 (1974).
Because the record establishes that the factors required to raise the presumption were proven by clear and convincing evidence, I concur in the result reached by the majority.
POMEROY, NIX and MANDERINO, JJ., join in this opinion.