In re Roblin's Estate
210 Or. 371, 311 P.2d 459 (1957)
The Roblins had a son,
Charles, and a daughter, Ruth.
Mr. Roblin disowned his son,
to the point of leaving his wife because he found out she was sending him
money.
Mrs. Roblin died. Her estate
split everything between the two children.
However, there were
properties that were jointly owned between Charles and Mrs. Roblin that
became his through joint ownership with right of survivorship.
Ruth went to her father and
incorrectly told him that Mrs. Roblin had left almost everything to
Charles. In anger, he immediately wrote a will leaving everything he
owned exclusively to Ruth.
He just so happened to use
Ruth's lawyer.
Mr. Roblin died. Charles
contested the will.
The Trial Court dismissed the
claim and admitted the will to probate. Charles appealed.
Charles argued that Ruth had
fraudulently influenced Mr. Roblin's will by lying about Mrs. Roblin's
will.
The Oregon Supreme Court
affirmed.
Under Oregon State law,
"Fraud which causes the testator
to execute a will consists of statements which are false, which are known
to be false by the party who makes them, which are material, which are
made with the intention of deceiving the testator, which actually deceive the testator, and which cause the testator to act in reliance upon the statements."
All of these elements must
be established in order to establish fraud.
The Oregon Supreme Court
found that Ruth's statements were simply an exaggeration, or possibly a
misconception on her part. There was no intent to deceive, therefore
fraud was not established.