Steeling Yourself for a Contest of Wills
Being the personal representative of a deceased family member’s estate is an unenviable task, whether you were the obvious choice all along, since you were the decedent’s only surviving close relative, or whether you stepped up and brought the estate of a family member who died intestate to court, or even if you were completely surprised when you found the decedent’s will and saw your name listed as personal representative. No matter how you got to this position, it is your responsibility to complete all the paperwork, fulfill the estate’s financial obligations, and watch your estate get smaller and smaller until it eventually settles. For most estates, all you need to get through probate is the same determination that you use when filing your taxes or doing anything else that is not fun. If a disinherited relative of the decedent contests the will, your job as the personal representative is more difficult. If you are the personal representative of the estate of someone who was on bad terms with some of his or her family members, contact a Dade City probate lawyer.
The State of Florida Has Your Back
In the United States, the testator of a will has the right to name any person or entity he or she chooses as beneficiaries of the will and to disinherit close family members; the only family member who has the right to inherit more than what the will indicates is the decedent’s surviving spouse, who may claim an elective share. Any other family member who believes that he or she has been unfairly disinherited can only get an inheritance by persuading the probate court that the will does not bear the genuine signature of the decedent or that the decedent signed it through undue influence such as fraud or duress. The disinherited family member can only do this through litigation.
Florida does not shut down such claims before they start, unlike some states. It does, however, automatically authorize the personal representative to use funds from the estate to hire a lawyer to defend such claims.
Ideally, the Will Has Your Back, Too
The way the decedent phrases the will can also make it easier to defend the estate against claims that challenge the will. For example, if the decedent’s youngest son challenges the will, he can say that his father wrote the will before he was born, and even though it names his older siblings as heirs but not him, it is possible to construe the language of the will to mean that all of his children who are alive at the time of his death get an inheritance, regardless of whether the will includes their names. It is easier to defend against this claim if the will says, “My son Brian and daughter Bronwyn shall inherit equal shares of my estate. My son Branwell shall inherit nothing.”
Contact a Florida Estate Planning Attorney About Probate Problems
An estate planning attorney can help you if you are the personal representative of an estate, and a disinherited family member is challenging the will. Contact The Law Office of Laurie R. Chane in Dade City, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
kiplinger.com/retirement/how-to-respond-to-a-contested-will
