The recent decision of a Florida appellate court has shed some light on a little discussed aspect of tort and probate law in the state of Florida. The Third District Court of Appeals ruled in the case of Saewitz v. Saewitz that to sustain a prima facie case for tortious interference with expected inheritance the plaintiff must prove damages.
In this case, two daughters, Mercedes and Brooke Saewitz claimed that while their father was dying their step-mother Lynn Saewitz manipulated their father and tortuously interfered with their inheritance. At trial, the case was dismissed because the trial judge held that the daughters did not prove the damage element required to make a prima facie case of tortious interference. The elements of the cause of action are as follows:
(1) expectancy by the plaintiff to receive an inheritance;