From our “Ask a Question” Mailbag: Montgomery County Will Contest Standing

Most Recently Updated July 18, 2018.

“My neighbor promised to give me her Montgomery County house in her will. She died recently and her son, who did not talk to her for 10 years, has filed a will from the 1970s that leaves him everything. Can I challenge that will?”

Montgomery County Will Contest Standing

Montgomery County Will Contest Standing

If I understand the facts correctly, your neighbor died and—to the best of your knowledge, her most recent Will was the one her Son filed with the Montgomery County Register of Wills. That Will is very old, but as far as you know, is the most recent Will she signed. Though she verbally promised to give you the house in Montgomery County, she failed to write a new Will.

If these are the facts, then you will not be able to challenge the will for two reasons:

The Concept of Standing

First, just because your friend promised to make a will, that promise did not give you any legal right to the house.

Second, to file a Will Contest in Montgomery County, you have to have standing. This means you have to be recognized as an interested party. In this case, even if you successfully challenged the 1970s will and had it thrown out for being a forgery or because of undue influence, then your friend would be found to have died without a will (attorneys call this “intestate”). Under the Pennsylvania intestacy rules the house would pass to your friend’s descendants, but not to you. Because there is no way that you would gain from a will contest, the Orphans’ Court judge would find that you did not have standing and would dismiss your case.

Sorry!

Further Will Contest Questions?

Having “standing” is one part of the Will Contest process. By all means, if you want to learn more, please read my more detailed article, Will Contests and Will Challenges All You Need to Know.

In Conclusion: Montgomery County Will Contest “Standing”

I hope that this article was helpful in explaining when you can file a will contest action. Further, I included links to even more detailed information on my website. Therefore, please contact me and let me know how I did. Certainly, your comments and questions are welcome!

Let our Will Contest Lawyers help walk you through what can be a confusing process. To begin with, call to speak to one of our experienced Will Contest Attorneys.  By all means, our lawyers are ready to answer your questions. In fact, feel free to contact our office for a free consultation. Ultimately our goal is to put our 25 years of estate litigation experience to work for you.

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