Chapter 53 - § 53.12 • UNDUE INFLUENCE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 53.12 • UNDUE INFLUENCE

Undue influence is defined as words, conduct, or both, which at the time of the making of the will, (1) deprive the person making the will of his or her free choice, and (2) cause the person making the will to make the will or to make one or more provisions differently than he or she otherwise would have. CJI-Civ. 34:14 (CLE ed. 2021). Undue influence is proved if the contestant can establish the following facts: (1) a person unquestionably susceptible to undue influence, (2) the opportunity in a third person to exercise undue influence and to effect a wrongful purpose, (3) a disposition to influence unduly for the purpose of procuring an improper benefit, and (4) a result appearing to be the effect of the supposed influence.

Undue influence is typically proved through circumstantial evidence, and Colorado courts have been liberal in admitting evidence of all circumstances that might tend, in conjunction with other evidence, to show undue influence. In In re Estate of Koch, 136 P.2d 673 (Colo. 1943), the Colorado Supreme Court held that the trial court properly permitted evidence regarding events 21 years prior to the death of the decedent; the...