Estate Of Lakatos

656 A.2d 1378 (1995)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Rose was a woman in her early to mid-seventies in March of 1988 when D came into her life. D introduced himself to Rose by delivering his business card to her at her home after which he began to perform odd jobs for Rose. At the time D came to know Rose, Rose had no contact with any of her family members except for an occasional visit from her sister. Roger had an active relationship with Rose from the spring of 1988 until June of 1990 when a fire partially destroyed Rose's home. D visited her at least once a day and sometimes as often as two or three times a day. D assisted Rose around her house and drove Rose to various appointments and took her on various errands. These facts suggest that this elderly woman came to depend on D as the only person with whom she really had substantial contact. D gained the confidence of Rose. D gradually inserted himself into Rose’s financial life. D suggested to Rose that she execute a power of attorney so that she would have someone to care for her should she need it. Rose made D her attorney-in-fact. On that same date, Rose executed a new will which left all of her estate to D, except for a $ 1,000.00 gift to her church. Both the will and the power of attorney were prepared by Attorney Richard Jacobs, D's second cousin. D was not present in Attorney Jacob's office at the time the will and the power of attorney were executed. Even so, three days after the execution of the will, Attorney Jacobs prepared a petition to have Rose evaluated in order to determine if she was competent to assist her counsel in the defense of the slander action that D got his cousin to represent her on. Rose was unable to provide information for discovery requests in July of 1988, and was unable to remember things and grasp the value of her stocks or realize their worth in the fall of 1988. D obtained several copies of the newly executed power of attorney and delivered these copies to Rose's investment accounts, as well as banks where Rose had savings and checking accounts. Attorney Jacobs, who continued to represent Rose in the slander action, prepared a draft of a letter to the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in which he stated that he was retained by Rose to represent her in the slander action and 'in the process of the suit it became quite apparent to me that Rose is really not competent to understand the nature of her acts nor at this point do I believe she is competent to handle her own estate.' D unlawfully converted $ 128,565.29 in assets from Rose's estate for his own benefit or the benefit of others. By June 1990, Rose was living in squalor and filth and had fallen behind in the payment of certain household bills including water/sewer bills, and County and City property taxes. On June 18, 1990, Rose executed a general revocation of the power of attorney placed in D. On September 4, 1993, Rose died. Spry (P) filed a petition to revoke Rose's and impose a constructive trust based on undue influence. The trust was imposed and the will revoked. D appealed.