Defending a Will
If you are the beneficiary of a will that is being contested, the laws are generally on your side. While it may be difficult for the excluded relatives to contest a will, it will be worth your while to hire a lawyer to put a quick end to their fruitless fight.
Your best defense is a good offense. While the burden of proof to prove the will is invalid is on those who are contesting the will, you are better off consulting with your own attorney and preparing a case to show there were no problems with the will. The faster you can put together a solid case, the quicker the other side will drop their case and you can get what is rightfully yours.
In fact, if you have the time to review the will before the testator passes away, you can avoid many of these issues altogether. Demanding to see the will, however, is typically not easy. Because the most successful way to contest a will is to challenge the witnesses and conditions of the signing, you can use your own estate planning process as a way to bring up the testator’s will and how he or she signed it.
Regardless of how many beneficiaries there are in the will and how many of them are willing to pay for an attorney to defend the will, you should take an offensive stance and hire a lawyer to prove the will is valid. If those who are challenging the will are going to move forward, it might be years before they are proven wrong. Hire a lawyer and end the conflict now.
