How Litigation Attorneys Can Help Heirs Contest A Will

Dec 10
08:49

2012

Kerry Peck

Kerry Peck

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To protect your rights as an heir or to dispute a will, you should work with experienced litigation attorneys who are familiar with the probate court.

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If someone close to you has recently died,How Litigation Attorneys Can Help Heirs Contest A Will Articles particularly a relative, you may be able to contest the will that is in place if you genuinely feel that you have a right to inherit or if you feel you may have been left out of the document as an oversight. These attorneys can also represent your case if a loved one dies without any plans in place (intestate). In the case of intestacy, litigation attorneys can represent your interests when the state appointed administrator begins determining who should benefit from the assets left behind. By far, however, there are more disputes that involve a will that the remaining heirs can't agree on. These battles can become long, protracted court cases and stir up emotion and outrage, so you should always have a lawyer on your side if you do contest a will. There are four valid reasons to contest a will in the state of Illinois, each based on various statutes of Illinois Law.

Improperly Executed Documents

This simply means that the document wasn't signed according to the laws of state governing inheritances and probate. In Illinois, there must be two witnesses in the presence of each other at the same time. They must witness the signing of the document and each other's signatures. This is usually fairly easy to discredit or prove, since the evidence (or lack of it) should be on the documents themselves.

Not Of Sound Mind

The legal term for this is "testamentary capacity." In other words, did the decedent understand the value of his estate and assets well enough to properly dispose of them in his or her will. Your litigation attorneys could also contest whether your loved one reasonably understood which people should logically inherit or if the individual simply didn't understand the ramifications of signing a will that has excluded certain heirs. This can be difficult to prove, as individuals may vary on whether they believe that a person truly didn't understand how the signed document would work.

Undue Influence

You've seen this represented in more than a few television movies. Someone close to an elderly person uses extreme duress or pressure to force an individual to prepare a will that doesn't really reflect their wishes. Litigation attorneys caution against pursuing this unless the grounds are fairly strong. Simply nagging someone or arguing with them repeatedly may not be enough. You may have to prove that the individual who influenced the deceased's decisions was going to extremes, such as isolating the person from friends and family, holding an earlier version and refusing to release it, or paying for the attorney that prepares the document. Litigation attorneys can evaluate your claim and tell you whether you have a case that you should contest on the grounds of undue influence.

Litigation Attorneys Are Familiar With Fraud

This is pretty straightforward - anyone who signs a will as a result of being tricked is a victim of fraud, as are their heirs. Some manipulative individuals may prepare a new document cutting certain people out of their inheritance, then give it to the individual saying it is a power of attorney or advance medical directive. If the person signs it believing it is something else entirely, litigation attorneys can present a case on your behalf. A forged signature is another, less common form of fraud because it requires at least two accomplices who are willing to sign as witnesses. Gathering the evidence and proving fraud may require interviewing the witnesses about the decedent's state of mind and whether they read through the document to determine what it was.

If you believe that you have grounds to contest the will of a recently deceased loved one, be sure you talk to probate litigation attorneys. They can guide you through the complexities of a court case and protect your best interests as an heir at all times.

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