Riskey v. Riskey

Summary

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment against family members challenging a trust provision that gave Rodney Riskey an option to purchase farmland and related property for $65,000. The court held that the evidence did not establish the purchase option was the product of Rodney Riskey’s undue influence over his mother, particularly because the provision carried over from earlier testamentary documents. The court also declined to consider a rebuttable presumption of undue influence that was not raised in the district court or properly presented on appeal.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was proper because, viewing the facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the challengers, the evidence did not create a genuine issue of material fact that the purchase-option provision was the effect of Rodney Riskey's undue influence.
2. The Supreme Court reviews a grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and deciding whether the record precluded a genuine issue of material fact or entitled the movant to judgment as a matter of law.

Questions Presented

1. Whether summary judgment was proper on the claim that the trust's purchase-option provision resulted from Rodney Riskey's undue influence.
2. Whether the evidence created a genuine issue of material fact concerning Rodney Riskey's disposition to exert undue influence and whether the purchase-option provision appeared to be the effect of such influence.

Disposition

affirmed