Bloom Sugarman Obtains Precedent-Setting Reversal From Georgia Court of Appeals on Undue Influence Case

On June 6, 2017, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued a decision which clarifies the standard that Georgia courts should apply when examining alleged evidence of undue influence.  The opinion almost completely reverses retired Superior Court Judge Wendy Shoob’s order granting summary judgment based on the erroneous conclusion that a fact finder may only look at evidence of undue influence that occurred on the date of execution of challenged documents.  Instead, the Court reiterated years of precedential Georgia case law and made clear that a trier of fact in an undue influence case may look at evidence indicative of undue influence before, during and after the date of execution of the challenged documents.

In addition to incorrectly limiting the scope of the evidence, the Court also found that the trial court discredited evidence, adopted the opposing party’s theory of the case, and improperly weighed the evidence.  Accordingly, the Court reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment on our client’s undue influence claims, as well as the opposing parties’ adverse declaratory judgment claims.

Slosberg v. Giller, et al., Case No A17A0091, A17A0092 (Ga. Ct. App. June 6, 2017)