In Re Estate of Toy M. Bean

This appeal concerns a dispute among six siblings over the validity of their father's will. One month after his father's death, the youngest child filed a petition in the Chancery Court for Williamson County to probate a will his father had executed in July 1998. The testator's five older children contested this will on the grounds that their father lacked testamentary capacity and that the youngest child had procured the will by undue influence. Following a three day trial, a jury determined that the July 1998 will was invalid. After the trial court denied his post-trial motions, the youngest child appealed, taking issue with several evidentiary rulings, the adequacy of the instructions, and the evidentiary foundation for the verdict. We have determined that the trial court did not commit reversible error during the trial and that the record contains material evidence that the youngest child procured his father's July 1998 will by undue influence. We have also concluded that the trial court erred by requiring the estate to pay the youngest child's attorney's fees.