Contesting a Will

In the event of an individual contesting a will, there are certain things that the person must be aware of. A last will and testament is a document left behind by a deceased person that states the ratio in which that person's fortune must be divided between all his beneficiaries. It is completely in the hands of the deceased person, and he/she can leave their fortune to whoever they like. In most cases that persons children and immediate family will be the beneficiaries, so it is very common to see the children and relatives of a deceased person contesting a will.

It is very difficult to successfully contest a will, so one must be well aware of all the possible scenarios under which contesting a will can be successful. Making a will is something that an individual puts a lot of thought into, and he also does so in the presence of his lawyer, so to claim in a court of law that this will is invalid is a rather big claim and requires a lot of evidence to prove it.

The individual who makes the will is known as the 'testator', and it is in the Law of Property that a will contest can be brought up. Contesting a will means objecting to the validity of the will, claiming that the will does not reflect the true intentions of the testator. This is a tall claim, and as mentioned before, it requires some substantial evidence to be proved.

Reasons for Contesting a Will
There are a few cases where contesting a will can be successful. If the objecting party can prove that the will was made under a few certain conditions, then the will can be considered invalid. Given below are the cases under which contesting a will can be deemed successful.

• The ability of an individual to make a will under healthy conditions of memory and disposing mind is known as their testamentary capacity. If it is proven that the individual had a lack of testamentary capacity while making the will, it can be contested.
• If it can be proven that the will was made under fraudulent circumstances, the will can be contested.
• If it can be proven that the testator was suffering from an insane delusion while creating the will, it can be contested.
• Lastly, if it can be proven that the testator created the will under force by someone, or under undue influence by someone, the will can be contested.

Renouncing a will by the court is not something that can be taken lightly, especially when the amounts of the inheritance are fairly large. It needs to be proven in a court of law with convincing evidence that the will does not truly represent the intentions of the testator. It's interesting to note that if a 'No-contest' clause is included in a will, none of the beneficiaries can contest it. They are then left with two choices, either to take whatever is given to them or to take nothing at all. This clause is considered void in many states though.

Sometimes the executor of a will, or the attorney, can end up making a mistake while creating the documents of the will. If this is the case, he can be sued by a party for legal malpractice for ignoring his executor responsibilities. Though this is possible, it is something that happens very rarely. You must also know that contesting a will is permitted to only two kinds of parties.

• Anyone who is mentioned on the face of the will.
• Anyone who would stand to benefit if the will was declared as invalid and the contest was successful.

Contesting a will time limit is something that differs from state to state and has a very complex set of laws and rules surrounding it. The best thing to do would be to contest the will as soon as possible, because the longer you wait, the harder it will be to lodge a successful contest. Some lawyers say 120 days from the date of death is a suitable time, whereas some claim that 6 months from the date of death is sufficient time for contesting a will.

Contesting a will is a sensitive issue, and it is not something that should be taken lightly, as it produces a lot of strife and conflict in the family. You should contest a will only if you feel you have a genuine claim of being treated unfairly, or if you feel that someone influenced the testator to not give you your fair share.