Also known as: clear and convincing evidence · clear-and-convincing evidence · clear and convincing · C&C evidence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A heightened evidentiary standard that requires proof establishing that a fact is highly and substantially more likely to be true than not. The standard exceeds the ordinary civil preponderance threshold yet falls short of the criminal beyond-a-reasonable-doubt threshold. It is applied when constitutional or policy considerations demand greater certainty before a court may act on a contested factual assertion.
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Camila Cervantes sought to attend the public sentencing hearing of the defendant who had assaulted her. The prosecutor asked the court to exclude her during one witness's testimony. The court found that clear and convincing evidence showed her presence would materially alter that witness's account and therefore ordered her temporary exclusion while noting alternatives considered on the record.
Craig Caldwell revoked his will after learning that his intended beneficiary had died. Later evidence established by clear and convincing proof that the revocation rested on the false belief that the beneficiary was still alive. The court therefore treated the revocation as ineffective and probated the earlier will.
Cecilia Cabrera, a city council member, sued a newspaper for reporting that she had accepted bribes. The paper moved for summary judgment. The court held that Cabrera must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence and granted the motion when the record failed to meet that threshold.
Christopher Collins and his brother were injured in the same accident. Hospital records left the exact timing of the brother's death uncertain. The probate court ruled that the brother failed to survive the decedent by 120 hours because no clear and convincing evidence established the required interval.
Carmen Choi claimed that her uncle had created an oral trust for her benefit before his death. No writing existed. The court enforced the trust only after finding that clear and convincing evidence established both its creation and its specific terms.
Christian Coleman petitioned to reform an unambiguous will that omitted a bequest he claimed the testator intended. He introduced extrinsic evidence of a scrivener's mistake. The court granted reformation because clear and convincing evidence proved both the mistake and the testator's true intention.
Clear and convincing evidence requires the factfinder to conclude that the asserted fact is highly and substantially more probable than not. Preponderance requires only that the fact is more likely than not. The higher standard is imposed when constitutional interests or strong policy concerns demand greater certainty before a court may act.
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…Family and Juvenile Court Acts § 32 (c) (1969). Cf. the proposal of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency that a "clear and convincing" standard be adopted. Model Rules for Juvenile Courts, Rule 26, p. 57 (1969). See generally Cohen, The Standard of Proof in Juvenile Proceedings: Gault Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, 68 Mich.…
…statements to a former roommate that she would not want to live in a persistent vegetative state did not satisfy the State’s clear and convincing evidence standard
…306; Beaver v Beaver , 117 NY 421, 428). Second, the proponent of a gift has the burden of proving each of these elements by clear and convincing evidence ( Matter of Kelley, supra , at p 150; Matter of Abramowitz , 38 AD2d 387, 389-390, affd on opn 32 NY2d 654). Donative Intent There is an important distinction between the intent…
…standard); Haw. Rev. Stat. §56Q:2-803(g) (1999) (same), with Ga. Code Ann. § 53-1-5(d) (Supp. 1996) (requiring proof under clear and convincing evidence standard
…See also Addington v. Texas , 441 U. S. 418 (1979). In that case, we held that the State must prove the need for commitment by "clear and convincing
The standard is required to terminate parental rights, to permit withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from an incompetent patient, and to prove actual malice in defamation actions brought by public officials or public figures. It is also required to rebut the presumption of correctness of state-court factual findings in federal habeas proceedings.
A party seeking reformation of an unambiguous donative document must prove by clear and convincing evidence both that a mistake affected the terms and what the donor's true intention was. The same standard is used to establish that a revocation rested on a false belief about an objective fact, triggering the presumption that the revocation is ineffective.
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The creation and terms of an oral trust may be proved only by clear and convincing evidence. No writing is required, but the heightened evidentiary burden protects against fraudulent claims and promotes stability of trust arrangements.
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An individual born before the decedent must be shown by clear and convincing evidence to have survived the decedent by 120 hours. Absent such proof the individual is deemed to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of intestate succession and governing-instrument construction.
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