Intentional Interference With Expected Inheritance [IIEI]; There’s A New Tort In Town!

It’s called intentional interference with expected inheritance [IIEI].  Two adult males were in a long-term committed relationship when one was hospitalized and awaiting surgery.  He asked his partner to prepare a will dividing his estate equally between his estranged sister and the partner.  The partner prepared the will and sent a copy of it to the sister.  She said she would have a friend prepare a trust and mail it in a few days and that the will should not be presented to her brother.  She never sent the promised documents.  Nine days later, the brother/partner died intestate, leaving an estate worth over a million dollars.  The sister opened probate and applied to become administrator.  She stopped responding to the surviving partner’s emails and letters.  The sister requested the entire estate, and the probate court found the surviving partner had no standing.  The surviving partner filed an action alleging IIEI, deceit by false promise and negligence, and the trial court sustained the sister’s demurrer without leave to amend.  The appellate court reversed and remanded for the surviving partner to amend his complaint.  Beckwith v. Dahl (Cal. App. Fourth Dist., Div.3; May 3, 2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1039, [141 Cal.Rptr.3d 142].