Noland v. Noland

While the majority does not decide whether the trial court correctly shifted the burden to the trust’s proponent, it nonetheless concludes that if the burden of proof did shift, the trial court was clearly erroneous in finding that the proponent failed to meet his burden to prove Wesley Noland’s mental capacity beyond a reasonable doubt. I cannot join this conclusion.

Assuming for purposes of capacity analysis, as does the majority, that Jerry Noland procured and benefitted from the 1991 trust instrument, the burden shifted to him to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Wesley Noland possessed…