Scoundrel Lawyer? Disputing a Will?

Question

Currently in a legal dispute regarding a will.
We fired our lawyer (who was also the person who made up the will in question) and hired a new lawyer.

Suddenly, our old, scorned lawyer comes forth for the opposition claiming he did not create the will correctly as there was no witness in the room at the time of signing. So the will is null and void.

I've also been told that we cannot sue for malpractice as the only one who can is the deceased.

The entire thing sounds so fishy to me. Can this be true?

Thanks!

Answer 1

"Scoundrel Lawyer? Disputing a Will?"

There is no quick answer to your question. And there aren't really enough facts presented here to respond to this accurately without a lot of supposition and conjecture-- which might actually be useless for your particular case.

Generally, witnesses to a will sign the document. So, if there were no witnesses but signatures still appear, the attorney who created the will did more than just malpractice. The attorney committed a crime-- and should be sued by the estate for any damages that result, be prosecuted by the State's Attorney or District Attorney, and be investigated by the attorney disciplinary agency in your state-- and then ultimately be disbarred.

The attorney cannot represent your opposition, but he may appear as a material witness without there being a conflict of interest. However, if the attorney stands to gain financially from that testimony and from his professional failure, then the court should take that into account.

Certainly, though, the attorney does not get to decide that the will is null and void simply because he says so. It may be possible to show the testator's wishes are embodied in that document and that for various technical reasons and in the broader name of justice that the Will should still stand.

Consider reporting this incident to the attorney disciplinary agency in your state. They might decide to investigate and see if any misconduct took place regardless of what you can show to them in the way of evidence. Of course, they also might not.

Answer 2

Depends on what state you are in and what the local rules are but it sounds like a major conflict of interest to me.

Still, he may be right and the will is not valid if there were no witnesses to the execution of the will.

Also, it is true only the deceased can sue for malpractice but in this case the deceased lives on through their estate and the estate of the deceased (via executor or personal representative) typically can still sue for malpractice.

Answer 3

Call the bar association in the state where you are working through the probate process.

Answer 4

"Scoundrel lawyer" ? Isn't that redundant?

Report the slime ball - he can't work both sides of the fence on the same case.