May 20, 2019

You start your estate planning process with the best of intentions, thinking carefully about who you want to include and what you’d like them to have. But what happens when your family members don’t agree with your decisions? Since you won’t be around to help explain your intentions, how can you work ahead to prevent the possibility of will challenges?

Will challenges can be brought when someone things you were affected by undue influence, did not know what you were signing, or did not have appropriate mental capacity to decide what to do with your estate.

More often than not, a will challenge is brought by a disgruntled family member who expected more from your estate. Although a will challenge can be initiated by a family member, this does not always mean this will succeed. Being frustrated with the provisions inside the will alone is not enough to succeed with a claim. Instead, the person bringing the suit must also show evidence regarding why the will should be classified as invalid. This is not an easy argument to make, although the very act of filing a will challenge can add delays to the proper administration of your estate.

Most estate planning attorneys know about the common reasons behind a will challenge and are prepared to prevent it during the process of drafting the will. If you are concerned about taking precautionary measures to minimize this risk, talk to your NJ estate planning lawyer today about how best to avoid the possibility of will contests with the drafting language in your document.