The Will & Probate Litigator: Legal & Psychiatric Perspective on Undue Influence

The Will and Probate Litigator Blog is featuring the first installment of a three-part interview with prominent Charleston, S.C. Psychiatrist, Dr. Linda Austin. Nelson Mullins probate litigator Robert Brunson interviews Dr. Austin about the prevalence of dementia in an increasingly aging baby boomer population and the risks that declining cognitive functioning can pose to high wealth families. Dr. Austin, who has served in the past as a court appointed expert to assess mental capacity, discusses how some elderly people can become vulnerable to undue influence, what families should look out for, and what to do from the standpoint of family dynamics. Mr. Brunson, who has represented families over the years in high stakes cases of undue influence and in other types of fiduciary litigation, discusses the basic legal issues that may face families when the matriarch or patriarch is experiencing a mental decline and is vulnerable to an undue influencer.

The interview is divided into three parts. The first installment, released in July, discusses the general issues of cognitive decline and the potential for undue influence. The second interview segment, to be posted in August, concerns what families should look for if they are concerned that a parent may be vulnerable to undue influence. The third segment includes a discussion of what to do when the family believes a parent or grandparent is being influenced unduly. Each installation is short but contains essential information from both the legal and mental health perspectives of this complicated and often vexing issue.