A will challenge occurs when an interested party calls the validity of the will into question. A challenge can be based on a variety of different factors. Common examples include the following:
- Mental state or capacity
- Fraud
- Undue Influence
- Failure to follow requirements for a proper will (including witnesses, notarization, etc)
Any interested party can challenge a will. A child who is left out of a will might challenge a will because he assumes a mistake was made in the drafting of the will. He might claim that his parent didn’t possess the necessary mental capacity to make decision in regards to beneficiaries. A spouse may question a will that was drafted before the marriage and argue that the testator didn’t intend to leave all her possessions to a charity but she didn’t have time to change her will after their marriage. Or the spouse might argue a more recent will exists but cannot be found.
There are simple steps you can take to avoid any problems with challenging your will. An experienced estate planning attorney can make sure your will is valid and help you determine who should know where the current will is kept to make certain the will is found when needed.
