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What You Can Do To Minimize The Likelihood Of Someone Contesting Your Will

October 31, 2017 By wrlaw

Estate planning is a serious undertaking that, in most cases, requires a professional to make sure you and your family get the best result. Since death is inevitable and the likelihood of unfortunate situations like mental incapacitation cannot be ruled out in life, it is only prudent to have a trustworthy estate planning attorney at your side. Contrary to the belief of many, estate planning does not only begin and end with a last will and testament you want to make. A lawyer in this field assists you in avoiding estate taxes, drafting living trusts, or even developing a tax mitigation plan. Moreover, they work to ensure that both your assets and savings get to the intended beneficiaries after your demise.

Keeping It Private

A safe way of keeping cases of will contesting at bay is keeping the content of your will or trusts to yourself and your estate planning attorney only. As a result, in the event of changing your mind, no one will know your previous estate provisions. To keep the whole process in the light and open to your family, all you need to do is to give them our firm’s details and your attorney’s contact information and details of where your estate planning documents are located. However, certain circumstances may necessitate that you provide a notice of your estate plan provisions, for instance, designation of the guardians of your dependents, especially children with disabilities.

Furthermore, if you are seeking to change your will, our estate planning attorneys can help you in drafting another will and an entire restatement of your trust. All this is done at a reduced cost, with minimal additional expenses. In turn, it extends you an essential protection such that after your death, no one will gain knowledge of your previous will or trust.

Creation Of A Revocable Living Trust

One of the first steps in most estate planning situations is to help you create a revocable living trust. It becomes a tall order contesting it if it has been in play for quite a long time. It is difficult to prove that cases of duress, fraud, or undue influence have been taking place over all these years or that there was lack of testamentary capacity for all these years.

Activate The ‘No Contest Clause’

Not every beneficiary of a will is left happy with its testament. Upon the realization of this, the law has provided for a ‘no contest clause’ for every will and trust. This provision states that anyone who dares to contest your will or the heirs will get nothing if they challenge what your estate plan commands. However, despite being an excellent preventive measure, someone with little or nothing to lose, maybe one who has been disinherited or another who is determined to get more than outlined in the will can contest it.

Fairness

Showing discontent in the case of unfair treatment is human. Children will expect to receive the same inheritance without looking at their current financial position. To avoid instances of a will contest, we recommend that you hold a joint family meeting irrespective of your relationships and agree or else consult our estate planning lawyers for the various options at your disposal to avoid unfairness.

Seek The Service Of An Experienced Estate Planning Attorney

In estate planning, one wrong word or a missing signature can alter the entire intent of a will or trust. Utilizing the services of one of our estate planning attorneys ensures that drafting and execution mistakes are eliminated.

Our estate planning attorneys have gone through years of mentoring, education, and building experience, and they understand how to handle and advise clients on matters concerning wills and trusts. In addition, they make it clear to you from the very beginning that estate plans rarely go unchallenged, but they work to ensure that the chances of its happening are minimized. More importantly, our lawyers break down the process and make it worthwhile for anyone with estate planning issues.

Filed Under: Estates and Trusts

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