The relationship may arise formally from a fiduciary role or informally from dependence and trust. It is an element of the burden-shifting presumption in undue influence claims when combined with suspicious circumstances.
Family relationships alone generally do not suffice.
Alternative Names:
Fiduciary Relationship (Estate)|Relationship of Trust
Why it Matters?
Family relationship alone does not establish confidentiality, since a parent's trust in an adult child is ordinary rather than a relationship of dependence, and courts require evidence of actual reliance on the beneficiary for financial or personal management. Holding a power of attorney, managing accounts, or controlling access to the testator supplies that evidence. Establishing the absence of dependence defeats the presumption entirely.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Does a family relationship suffice?
What supplies the evidence?
