Stealing an Inheritance

Roberta Ranger had a long standing estate plan naming her nephew as the executor and leaving 40% of a $20 Million Estate to family and 60% to Charities. However at 89 years of age and suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, Roberta changed her estate plan to leave everything to a neighbor who had arranged for her own attorney to draft the new Will for Roberta. That attorney had a neuropsychologist exam Robert immediately after signing the Will and it was the expert’s opinion that Roberta, though having declining mental capacity, still was competent to sign the Will. Arthur Hadley was hired by the nephew, and by implication the other former beneficiaries, to contest the Will. Hadley discovered that Roberta’s middle name was spelled wrong in the Will and that the neuropsychologist himself was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Arthur Hadley’s representation of his client was complicated by (1) another case where he had to argue the exact opposite point of view from this case, and (2) his license to practice law could be suspended or revoked by the State Bar during this work after he got arrested during a Black Lives Matter rally. The case went to trial and surprising evidence lead to a compromise that resulted in at least partial justice.