If the estate executor distributes copies of a person’s will, and one of the beneficiaries is unhappy with what they have been allotted, they may want to challenge the will. Maybe they expected to receive different family heirlooms, for example, or a greater percentage of their parent’s financial assets.
The important thing to remember is that a person cannot challenge an estate plan simply because they do not like it or because they expected a different distribution of assets. They actually have to have legal grounds to file that challenge, so they have to show there is a valid reason to do so. Below are two examples.
Lack of testamentary capacity
First of all, an elderly person may be experiencing mental decline as they get older. They could have Alzheimer’s or dementia, for example.
If they make updates to their estate plan at this time, a beneficiary may claim that they lacked the mental capacity to make those changes. Essentially, the person would have wanted to draft their estate plan in a different way and did not understand the alterations they were making. It was just a mistake.
Outside influence
Another potential reason to challenge an estate plan is if there is some sort of outside influence. Maybe the elderly person was a victim of fraud, or the documentation was misrepresented to them. Perhaps another beneficiary used undue influence, convincing them to change their estate plan in a way that the elderly person never wanted to alter it to begin with. This means that those changes were not made of the person’s free will and should not be upheld in court.
Estate challenges
Issues like this can sometimes lead to estate challenges, which are very complex. Those involved in the process may benefit by working with an experienced law firm to explore their options.