Incapacity, Undue Influence and Your Parents' Estate Plan
Help your parents update their outdated estate plan while they still can to avoid undue influence and costly probate.
Your Parents' Estate Plan
Sure, you should have your estate plan squared away. But honestly? It’s urgent that your parents get theirs updated yesterday. That charming little trust they hammered out on a dot-matrix printer in 1992? It’s now basically a museum piece, adorable, but outdated.
If Mom and Dad’s plan is still living in the Clinton era, guess who gets to untangle the mess? You and your siblings. Picture California probate court: months of delays, big probate attorney fees, and the inevitable family group chat with “Did Uncle Bob really get the lake house?!"
So take a deep breath, pour everyone some coffee (or wine - your call), and gently broach the topic. Try something smooth like:
“Hey Mom, Dad… I was thinking about how much I love you both and how I’d really prefer not to become an accidental probate expert in my 50s. Have you guys looked at your estate plan since… well… since AOL was a thing?”
They’ll laugh. Or roll their eyes. Either way, door opened.
Mental Capacity
If they haven’t done anything yet, time is of the essence. California law insists they have testamentary capacity to sign or update their estate plan: basically, they need to know what they own, who their family is, and that they’re not signing up for a timeshare in Narnia.
Once memory starts playing hide-and-seek, it’s game over for making new estate planning documents. So nudge them while they can still remember where they parked the car and why they love you more than your siblings (kidding… mostly).
Undue Influence
Here’s the plot twist nobody wants: older folks can be surprisingly susceptible to undue influence. Enter the new “friend,” the overly helpful caregiver, the neighbor who suddenly wants to mow the lawn forever, or, worst-case, the long-lost nephew who smells money.
California courts call it “excessive persuasion that overcomes free will.” Translation: pressure so strong it turns a sweet grandma into someone who suddenly leaves everything to the nice man selling solar panels door-to-door.
It’s less of a worry when Mom and Dad are still tag-teaming life decisions. But if one is flying solo? That’s when the vultures start circling.
A fresh, attorney-drafted estate plan is like a force field against these bad actors.