Old movies and plays sometimes show all the family seated together in a room waiting for their loved one’s will to be read out to them all at once. That rarely happens these days. Instead, people are generally notified individually of what the will says. Nonetheless, there can still be some sharp intakes of breath when they find out what it says. There can also be high drama if someone is unhappy about their lot.
The law allows only certain people to file a will contest. These are people said to have “legal standing” to do so. If you want to launch a contest consider the following:
- Are you named as a beneficiary in the current will?
- Were you named a beneficiary in a previous version of the will?
- Would you stand to inherit something if no will could be found and a court probated the will according to state intestate laws?
If any of those things is true then you likely have the necessary legal standing to file a contest. Note that if you are under 18, you cannot file the will contest yourself so you would need to have someone else do it such as your parent or guardian.
You’d also need a valid reason
Having legal standing is just the first step. A court will only accept your petition if it is based on one of a few reasons. We outlined these in an earlier post.
If you believe you have both legal standing and a valid reason to challenge someone’s will it’s important to learn more about the process, your chances of success and the potential costs and benefits before you proceed. It is not a decision to take lightly.