Can I Dispute My Relative’s Will?
Estate planning delivers a will to the probate court that is in order and reflects the final wishes of the estate owner. But every so often, there is a situation where a relative of the deceased feels that there is something wrong with the will and that the will needs to be contested. In order to contest a will, you need grounds to contest it. After that, there is a process you can follow that will have your side of the story heard.
Grounds for Disputing a Will
If you feel like a will is not proper, then you need to act quickly. You will be dealing with your state’s probate court and each state has a different deadline for disputing a will. To start, you will need grounds for disputing the will and the most common grounds are:
- Forged signatures
- No witness signatures
- Will was signed under duress (the will owner was forced to sign the will even though they did not want to)
- Improperly certified or formatted will
In general, you are looking for some proof of fraud that makes the will invalid. Once you have established your grounds, you need to quickly move on to the next step.
Hiring an Attorney
You should never try to dispute a will on your own. You should always hire an experienced estate planning attorney who knows how to dispute wills in your state. Your attorney will want to know your grounds for dispute and the proof you have. No probate court in the country is going to accept a will dispute without some sort of evidence to back it up. The collection of evidence to make your dispute valid is an area where your attorney is invaluable in this process.
Submitting the Dispute
Another area where your attorney is going to be extremely helpful is in creating a dispute package the probate court will review. Probate courts are extremely busy, and they only take on business that they can attend to relatively quickly. Once your attorney has collected all of the information regarding your dispute, the dispute will be submitted and you will wait for the results.