Who Can Challenge a Will?

From Our “Ask a Question” Mailbag: “My father died recently and my brother is firing a will that I think is a forgery. My father and I have not spoken in over 10 years. Can I challenge the Will? Who can challenge a will?”

Who Can Challenge a Will:

Not just anyone can challenge a will. To bring a valid will challenge, you must be an Interested Party. Simply put, you can challenge a will if you end up with more money if you are successful. 

Typical examples of people who can bring a will contest are heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, or others with a claim against the estate that will be better off with the will rejected.

Examples of Interested Parties:

• Heirs: A person who would inherit if the judge declares the will invalid and there is no will. The heir is the person who would inherit if the person who died had no will. Typical examples are the deceased person’s children and spouse.
• Beneficiaries: A beneficiary is a person or entity (such as a charity) named in a will to receive property. If the current will is rejected, and a prior will is respected, the people and organizations in the preceding will are beneficiaries. 
• Creditors: These are people and organizations to whom the dead person owed money.

Examples of Grounds for Will Contests:

If you are an interested Party, you can retain our Will Contest team; we will work with you to develop your case. For background information, here is a list of the chief claims for both Pennsylvania Will Contests and New Jersey Will Challenges:

• Lack of Capacity: To be valid under Pennsylvania and New Jersey law, a person signing a Will must have the ability to understand the rights and powers the document grants. Further, he must realize what assets he has that are passing at his death. If a person does not have this capacity, then the Orphans’ Court judge can void the Will.   Learn more by following this link to an article about Will Contests based on Lack of Capacity.

• Undue Influence: Was the deceased unduly pressured to the extent that the Will terms would not have existed but for the pressure? If so, the Will may be challenged as the product of Undue Influence. Follow this link for more information about Undue Influence Will Contests.

• Fraud: An Orphans’ Court judge can void a Will if it results from Fraud. Was the deceased misled about the document being a Will when he signed it? Did someone lie about the Will’s terms? Your Bucks County Will Contest lawyer can use these facts to bring a Will Contest based on Fraud. For more information, follow this link to learn about Will Challenges Based on Fraud.

Our Will Contest Team Includes Spanish Speaking Attorney Brian Perez:

Enlist our decades of Will Contest Law Firm experience. Your team will include Brian Perez, who is fluent in Spanish. Will Contests are What  We Do. We do not dabble in other areas; we focus on estate-related litigation.   

Want to Read More about Who Can Challenge a Will?

This Blog is just a quick introduction to Who Can Challenge a Will. To learn more, follow this link to my website’s pages entitled Will Contests and Challenges, Everything You Need To Know.

Contact Skilled Our Will Contest Lawyers; We Understand Will Contests.

I hope you found this short article, What You Need to Know about Contesting a Will in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I have also included some links for more detailed information.

Contact us if you want to know more or have an estate that needs our help. Let our Will Contest Lawyers help you through what can be a confusing process. Feel free to contact our office for a free consultation. 

It’s All We Do Wills, Trusts, Probate, and Estate Litigation!

It’s What We Do!

Tags: Will Challenge Lawyer, Will Contest, Will Contest Attorney