Dyer v. Souther

Fletcher, Presiding Justice.

A jury found that the 1987 will of Laura Blanch Dyer was not the product of undue influence. In this appeal, the caveators challenge the trial court’s use of the phrase “definite tilt” in defining the pre ponderance of the evidence. Although we disapprove of the use of the phrase in instructing the jury, we conclude that the charge as a whole adequately expressed the burden of proof and affirm.

Laura Blanch Dyer died in 1994 leaving all of her property to her great nephew, Warren Christopher Souther, and then to his mother if he did not survive Ms. Dyer. Souther,…