Francois v. Francois
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
599 F.2d 1286 (1979)
Victor (plaintiff) was financially comfortable when he married Jane (defendant); over the marriage, at Jane's urging, he transferred her joint access to his money, bought a house in both names, adopted her children, conveyed away most of his property interests, gave her power of attorney over his stock, and bought her a boat. After a fight, Jane secretly hired a divorce lawyer and presented Victor with a settlement agreement giving her virtually everything, with an attorney from the same office nominally representing him, who told Victor signing was "financial suicide" and refused to represent him if he proceeded — yet Victor signed anyway. The couple stayed together another year, during which Jane sold or transferred most of the conveyed assets before leaving him. Victor sued for rescission, and the district court voided the agreement on several grounds including undue influence; Jane appealed.
Whether an act is procured by undue influence when one party, operating from a position of influence and dominance over the other, induces the other to act so contrary to their own interest that they would not have acted that way but for the dominant party's manipulation.