undue influence

Definition

Mental, moral, or physical domination (even if natural or right) that deprives a person of independent judgment and substitutes another person's objectives in place of his or her own. Exercise of undue influence is characterized often by excessive insistence, superiority of physical power, mind, or will, or pressure applied due to authority, position, or relationship in relation to the strength of the person submitting to it. Consent obtained for a contract, relationship, or transaction is voidable if it can be shown that an unfair advantage has been taken of an involved party. In dealings between parent and child, husband and wife, attorney and client, or doctor and patient, undue influence is generally presumed to have been exercised unless proven otherwise. See also coercion and duress.