Surrogate Rita Mella
James Cheney moved to dismiss the objections of his sibling Diane Wells to the probate of their mother’s will. The will benefitted James Cheney, Jennifer Cheney, and excluded Diane Wells. The objections were that the mother lacked testamentary capacity and that the will was the product of insane delusion, fraud and undue influence. The court concluded that there was conflicting evidence, or the possibility of drawing conflicting inferences from undisputed evidence, making the issue of capacity one for the jury. Thus the court held whether the mother executed this will during a lucid interval was appropriately left to the trier of fact. The mother had disinherited Diane Wells after an arm breaking incident. Whether Diane Wells assaulted the mother and broke her arm could be a basis for the insane delusion claim. The court ruled that there was a question of fact as to whether the mother’s belief that Diane Wells had broken her arm was beyond all reason. In regards to the fraud claim, the court found that Diane Wells had amassed enough evidence to raise a question of fact as to whether James Cheney misrepresented the arm breaking incident to the mother. The motion for summary judgment was denied.
