For what reasons can you challenge a Will?
There are myriad of ways to challenge a Will including but not limited to:
Scrivener’s error - the will has a mistake making it incomprehensible; incomplete; or contradicts itself.
Fraud - can be the altering or forging a Will
Undue Influence - making someone do something they would not others due
Undue influence exists if a person used a position of power over the deceased to “influence” that person to change the Will to benefit the person with the power in a way that the deceased otherwise would not have done.
Opportunity; Coercion; Deceit; Deception; Manipulation; Threats; Isolation from Lvoed ones; Control of the testator; False Promises; etc.
Who met with the estate attorney to draft the Will?
Who communicated with the Estate attorney for the terms of the Will?
Who was with decedent when the Will was signed?
Did the decedent take himself to attorney to execute the Will?
Did they read the Will?
Was there Mental and/or Physical Abuse
Lacking Capacity - from illness like dementia or alzheimer’s disease
In order to prove a lack of capacity, there must be evidence of the decedent's mental state, showing that there is evidence that the decedent (testator) lacked one or more of following:
Did decedent know the bounty of their estate or what he owned or possessed
Did they know the precise nature and provisions of the will
Did they know the nature, extent, and condition of his or her assets and property
Did the decedent know who were the individuals who ordinarily would inherit his or her estate
*evidence about a person’s memory decline or impairment, lack of comprehension and judgment, and inability to communicate constitute circumstantial evidence to help prove the claims.
Diminished Capacity with undue influence - the greater the decedent’s impairment the less undue influence is needed to prove undue influence.
Mistake in fact - such as thinking some had passed away or they had taken care of other loved ones by other mans.
Formalities of executing a Will were not followed:
There needs to have been two signatory witnesses on the Will itself unless it is a holographic Will (entirely handwritten Will)
The Will has to show testamentary intent
The Will needs to have been signed by the Testator and witnessed
The Will has to be the original document albeit there are exceptions
The Will cannot have been revoked by Testator
The Will can not have been altered or changed after execution
Does a Will need to be notarized?
No
Can you probate a copy of Will?
It depends, consult your estate attorney
Can you probate a handwritten Will (holographic Will)?
Yes