2007-10-02 07:16:09 · 8 answers · asked by tina t 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The time to contest a will is when it is offered for probate. If you are an interested party (named in the will or a revoked will or, if you would have received a bequest had the decedent died without a will) you should be served with legal notice of the will being offered, giving you an opportunity to contest the will.
How you contest the will is a matter of the substantive of gratuitous transfers. If you are the spouse of the decedent, many states give you a right to "elect against the will," i.e., to repudiate the will and receive instead what you would gave gotten if there was no will. Those states make it impossible to disinherit your spouse.
Otherwise, you could offer a will that was made after the one being probated; or a codicil to that will; or you could show that the testator revoked the will by destroying it before he died. If you would be better off if the prior will remained in effect, or if there were no will, then you might try to show that the testator was demented, or subjected to undue influence, or restrained by compulsion. These are grounds that would enable you to have a contract set aside, and the test for a will is very similar.
A trust could be attacked on pretty much the same grounds as a will.
You will need an attorney if you are to have any chance of success in a will contest.
2007-10-02 08:50:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Again I agree with Sensible.
You have absolutely no information on which to base an opinion. If you are contesting a will, you need to file such with the Probate court.
If a trust, it will depend entirely on the specific trust.
2007-10-02 07:27:31 · answer #2 · answered by hexeliebe 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will definitely need an attorney. Most people who go to the trouble of making a will or setting up a trust have them made with no-contest clauses. Good luck....
2007-10-02 07:29:08 · answer #3 · answered by lillllbit 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
File a suit contesting the will or trust. There are time limits within which the suit can be filed. Contact a lawyer ASAP.
2007-10-02 07:19:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the wording of the will. If you were specifically cut out of it, you don't stand much of a chance. You need an attorney.
2007-10-02 07:22:54 · answer #5 · answered by sensible_man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Accept that you got nothing and go on with life. People who 'think' they deserve anything and everything make me sick.
2015-06-12 10:34:34 · answer #6 · answered by HO LEE CHIN 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
quickly...with a lawyer...and remember, trusts can be legally hidden so you may never know what's really in them
2007-10-02 07:19:40 · answer #7 · answered by SQD 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That can be complicated. You should get a lawyer.
2007-10-02 07:18:41 · answer #8 · answered by Michael C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋