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Jasper L. Edwards
Have you ever been left money in a will? If you haven't, have you
ever thought about contesting a will where you think you should have been left some money? Or
maybe someone did remember you in their will, but not as generously as you thought they should
have.
This situation occurs most often when one child among siblings devotes their entire adult life to
caring for an elderly parent and finds, upon the parent's death that the estate has been left in
equal shares to all the siblings, with no special compensation for the devotion the child showed to
the parent during their lifetime.
Depending on the circumstances, contested wills, understandably, can cause hard feelings and be an
expensive, emotionally wrenching experience.
Contesting A Will Because Of Incapacity
A person who makes a will must be 18 years of age or older and of "sound mind," a term that means
the person knows what they have, what they are giving away, who their blood relatives are, and what
they are doing with their property in the will. One valid reason to contest a will would be that
the deceased did not meet these basic qualifications.
Contesting A Will Because Of A Technicality
A will is a formal document that must meet certain strict requirements. The requirements vary
depending on where you live, but generally speaking a will must be in writing, the will must state
that it is the intent of the person making the will, a will must be witnessed by two ore more
individuals, and the witnesses must sign a special statement when they witness the
will. Contested wills can result where one of these
special legal requirements was not fulfilled.
Contesting A Will Because Of Undue Influence
This is the contested will that turns up in feature films and situation comedies. Someone close to
the deceased, who ends up benefiting from the terms of the will, is accused of exercising undue
influence over the deceased in the making of his or he will. Undue influence can be very hard to
prove, as it requires that the person exercising undue influence over the deceased had control over
the deceased almost to the point of taking over their free will and controlling their behavior.
Furthermore, during this time the deceased must have been forced to make a new will or change their
old will.
There are limited circumstances where undue influence is easier to prove. If the attorney who wrote
the will is unrelated to the deceased, and the attorney benefits from the will to the detriment of
blood relatives, judges are more likely to entertain a claim of undue influence.
RESOURCE BOX
Free Wills to Print
provides detailed information on Free Wills, How to Write a Will, Last Will And Testament, Living
Wills and more.
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