Kase v. French
Supreme Court of South Dakota
325 N.W.2d 678 (1982)
Mr. and Mrs. French (defendants) befriended an elderly widow, Mrs. McWilliams, delivering groceries and checking on her regularly, and promising to take care of her for life. They later suggested she move to a smaller house, and she agreed to sell them her home for $40,000 at a below-market 1% interest rate, with two years of rent-free occupancy. Her own lawyer warned her that she had received higher offers and that the interest rate was unusually low, but she declined the advice and completed the sale anyway. After Mrs. McWilliams died, the estate's executor, Kase (plaintiff), sued to rescind the sale, and the trial court found no undue influence. Kase appealed.
Whether, where a confidential relationship exists between two parties, the dominant party must show that any transaction between them was free from undue influence.