Reference no: EM13822408

Leroy died suddenly, leaving behind him Margret, his wife, who was suffering from atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) of the brain, for whom he had cared devotedly because she was practically an invalid. In his will, he left his substantial estate to her, to go upon her death to his side of the family. He had actually earned all the money because Margret had never gone to work. Margret's sister, Anne, and her husband Eric an attorney agreed to take care of her, putting her into a skilled nursing facility near their home for which all expenses were paid from Leroy's estate. While she was still alive, they changed Margret's will, splitting the estate 40/60 in favor of her side of the family. They had a doctor certify that she was mentally competent to make such a change, but Leroy's family, who had visited her, noticed that she was capable of very little in the way of decision-making. As longtime friend of Anne and Eric, they had trusted them not to do anything improper. When they learned that Anne and Eric had changed Leroy's will under what they felt to be very shady circumstances, they accused them of stealing.

Do you believe that what Anne and Eric did was theft? Why or why not? If they felt their side of family had been wronged, was there anything that Anne and Eric could have done differently to rectify the problem?