Gestner v. Divine
Annotate this CaseDonald and Marjorie Woodfin married in 1997. At the time, Donald had two adult children, Kathleen (Kathy) Gestner and Ray Woodfin, and Marjorie had two adult children, Julie Divine and Colleen Shiras. Donald and Marjorie created the Woodfin Family Trust, a revocable trust, in 1999. Upon the death of the surviving spouse, the 1999 Trust identified the primary beneficiaries as Ray, Kathy, Colleen, and Julie, who would receive a sum of money and any remaining assets in equal shares if either or both settlors were deceased. Marjorie amended the Trust several times following Donald’s death. In 2002, Marjorie’s changes included adding additional successor trustees. Marjorie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. Julie drove Marjorie to meet with attorney Robert Green in Coeur d’Alene regarding another trust amendment. Green met with Marjorie alone. In the meeting, Marjorie explained that she was disappointed in her stepchildren because she believed they had treated her poorly since Donald’s death. Marjorie died on October 12, 2018, at age 92. After learning about Marjorie’s passing, Kathy called Julie to inquire about the Trust and Julie sent Kathy and Ray the May 29, 2018, letter. Kathy and Ray subsequently filed a complaint seeking declaratory relief. Kathy and Ray requested the district court to declare the 2018 amendments were void due to Julie’s undue influence and order Julie to distribute $100,000 to Ray and $100,000 to Kathy. Following a bench trial, the district court determined that the evidence “overwhelmingly supports a conclusion that Marjorie had full testamentary capacity when she amended the Trust on May 29, 2018.” Kathy and Ray timely appealed. Finding no reversible error, the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed judgment against Kathy and Ray.
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