An Estate Planning Attorney Met with an Elderly Widow Who

An estate planning attorney met with an elderly widow who wanted to create an estate plan for her modest estate comprised of a suburban home, a sizeable savings account, and an annuity. The 78-year-old woman was lucid and quite intelligent, but did not have much experience with financial matters. After a lengthy discussion, the attorney and the woman agreed upon an estate plan and set an appointment one week later for execution of the will and other documents. When the date for the execution arrived, the woman brought her three adult children to the meeting. Two of her children were married, and their spouses also attended. During the meeting, the group was quite talkative and the entire group discussed the will. After a while, however, the attorney noticed that the woman had stopped speaking, except to say occasionally that she wanted to satisfy everyone. The attorney then asked if he could speak with the woman alone, and the others left the room. The attorney explained to the woman that how the will was structured was entirely her decision. The attorney and the woman then spent thirty minutes discussing several questions raised by the woman, and the woman seemed satisfied with every explanation of the attorney. The attorney and the woman then agreed that the will, as drafted, reflected her wishes for the distribution of her estate. The children and spouses then returned to the room, and the will was signed. Sometime later, one of the children filed a bar complaint, claiming that his mother did not understand the will. Will the attorney be subject to discipline by the bar?

A) Yes, because the woman did not have much experience with financial matters and could not deal with a complex estate.
B) Yes, because the woman wanted to satisfy her children and their spouses, so the attorney should not have asked to speak with the woman alone.
C) No, because the attorney met with the woman twice, and took reasonable steps to insure that the woman could ask questions and understand the will.
D) No, because nothing indicates that the woman had any diminished capacity and the attorney's obligation to explain matters did not arise.

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