The death of a loved one has you reeling with grief. Between the grief and funeral arrangements, you feel overwhelmed, and haven’t had time to think about things like the will, a life insurance claim, superannuation and other financial arrangements. But when you are finally review the will, you’re shocked. The document before you is foreign and unexpected — and not at all what you believed were the deceased’s wishes.
You begin to question the validity of the will. You may even ask yourself how do you go about contesting a will under these circumstances?
The law provides a number of ways in which it may potentially be possible to dispute a will where some of these ways include :-
- Lack of mental capacity. There are times when a person drafts a will but does not fully understand their actions and their consequences. This may apply in cases of Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia or other medical conditions. Alcohol and drug use at the time of signing may perhaps also be a factor that reduces the mental capacity of the testator.
- Fraud or trickery. Sometimes, the deceased is tricked into signing a will they thought was another document. Or, important information is purposely withheld by an executor or other individual after death. This can include the existence of a revised will or other pertinent documents.
- Undue influence. If a testator is threatened, pressured, intimidated or coerced by another party into sign a will then that may affect its validity.
- Forgery. Forgeries exist when the will has been altered or the document has been signed by someone other than the testator.
If you were left out of a will or the validity of the will is in question, it is important to seek professional guidance and begin the process of contesting the will as soon as possible (if there are proper grounds for doing so). Will disputes are often but not always very complex matters. Much depends on the evidence and the views of the Court and in any of the scenarios listed above, the burden of proof can require parties to carefully marshall their evidence. The principal solicitor at Litigant is experienced in handling will disputes and is available by appointment to confer with you. To book your consultation, simply call +61 2 8644 0663 to find out if our commercial litigation law firm can help you.
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