What Warrants A Valid Will Contest?
There are many reasons why a person may contest a will, and it is important to realise that this is their right – providing, of course, they have a vested interest in the will, which means that they must either be one of the beneficiaries named on the will or they must be a person who would have been considered a beneficiary in the event that there was no will.
When a will is written, it has to be done so with the testator being of sound mind and with witnesses present to sign and date the writing of the will. The testator must not write the will under the influence of another, and the most up to date will is the one that will be considered the valid one. All of these aspects of writing the will are vital, as it is these that may come under question should someone decide to question or contest the will.
When the will is contested, the probate process tends to grind to a halt, and the claims of invalidity by the contester must be investigated. This can take up a great deal of time and money, and can throw the will proceedings off schedule completely.
However, any claim of contest by a person of standing must be investigated thoroughly to ensure that the will is a valid one.
People may contest the will for reasons of validity only, not because of their own personal thoughts on whether their late Uncle Jack left them far less money than they deserved.
Some of the accepted objections include:
- Fraud: The person contesting the will may claim that the will that is going through probate is a complete fraud and must therefore be invalidated.
- Not up to date: The person contesting the will may claim that there is a more up to date one, and that the one being used is old and therefore invalid. The contester may even be able to produce a more up to date will. Whether the claim is backed by evidence or not, it must be investigated before the probate process can continue.
- decedent was not of sound mind: The contester may claim that the decedent was not of sound mind when he wrote the will, and that it is therefore invalid. Again, this is something that would have to be looked in to before the probate could continue.
- Will written under influence from another: The person that contests the will may claim that the will was written under pressure and influence from another party, and is therefore invalid.
- Will was not properly witnessed: The contester may claim that the will was not legally or properly witnessed and that the witness signatures are fraudulent, therefore invalidating the will. The courts will have to look in to this, and may have to try and locate the witnesses, which could delay the proceedings even further.
These are some of the more common and accepted reasons for contesting the will, and as you can see they all relate the legal validity of the will and nothing else. Unfairness dos not come in to it, and you cannot contest on any other basis other than whether the will is a valid one.
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