Here in Massachusetts deeds and most other legal documents can be invalidated if signed under “undue influence.”
According to the Appeals Court
It is well established that the obligations of documents such as deeds, wills, and contracts can be avoided by showing that they were procured by means of fraud or undue influence.
Howe v. Palmer, 80 Mass. App. Ct. 736, 740.
So how exactly do Massachusetts courts define undue influence? The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that
Any species of coercion, whether physical, mental or moral, which subverts the sound judgment and genuine desire of the individual, is enough to constitute undue influence.
Neill v. Brackett, 234 Mass. 367, 369 (1920).
Typically anyone seeking to invalidate a deed (or other legal document) for undue influence must show four things:
- an unnatural disposition has been made
- by a person susceptible to undue influence to the advantage of someone
- with the opportunity to exercise undue influence and
- who in fact has used that opportunity to procure the contested disposition through improper means.
See Matter of the Estate of Sharis, 83 Mass. App. Ct. 839, 842 (2013).