The Appellate Court of Maryland issued an opinion in October 2026, voiding a circuit court judgment that had left one of three sisters with sole authority over their late father's estate. The panel ruled that trial judges committed reversible error by barring a qualified handwriting expert from testifying. This exclusion, the court found, deprived the two challenging sisters of a fair opportunity to prove undue influence in the handling of the S.K. Amini Trust of Maryland.
The dispute centers on a handwritten note found in Farsi, the Persian language, which two sisters claim was written by the favored daughter rather than their 95-year-old father. A certified translation of the note supported allegations that the primary beneficiary improperly managed her father's personal and medical affairs while steering the estate planning documents in her favor. The sisters filed suit to cancel the trust and force an equal division of the assets, arguing their sibling had interfered with their expected inheritance.
Procedural inconsistencies fueled the appellate reversal. While the trial judge cited missed discovery deadlines to silence the handwriting expert, the court allowed Kooresh Sobhani, the lawyer who drafted the trust, to testify remotely. Sobhani, who speaks both English and Farsi, testified that the elderly man was mentally alert and free from pressure when he signed the documents. The appeals panel noted this disparity in scheduling flexibility effectively skewed the trial against the plaintiffs.
The court also clarified the legal burden for such claims in Maryland. While general financial interference requires only a preponderance of the evidence, proving undue influence demands clear, satisfactory, and convincing proof. The lower court's conflicting procedural rulings made it impossible for the sisters to meet that higher standard. The case now returns to the circuit court for a full retrial, where the disputed Farsi notes and expert analysis will finally be put before a jury. No date has been set for the new proceedings.