Moore v. Moore

Elderly and sick married couple John and Joyce Moore (plaintiff) were parents to four children. John and Joyce owned a farm and homestead and had created a trust (plaintiff) and estate plan to benefit all their children. Joyce contended that their son Steven (defendant) beset John on his deathbed while Joyce was hospitalized for a severe abdominal infection and pressured the couple to sign two contracts to sell their farmland to Steven’s son Jebediah (plaintiff) at below-market prices with nominal interest and lengthy payment terms to the disadvantage of Steven’s siblings and contrary to John and Joyce’s plan. Evidence showed that Steven repeatedly warned Joyce that her other children would sell the land and destroy the family farm and that Steven failed to inform his siblings of the land sales that affected their trust interests. After John died, Joyce and the trust sued Steven and Jebediah for undue influence. Steven was the only sibling to farm and live on the land. Some years earlier, Joyce and John had signed powers of attorney for their financial affairs and medical directives, naming Steven as the successor to whichever of them died first. After a jury trial, the jury returned verdicts in favor of Steven and Jebediah, but the jury had been incorrectly instructed that the plaintiff bore the burden of proof to establish undue influence. Joyce and the trust appealed and argued this was reversible error.