When a will has been written and witnessed, there is often little that Detroit residents can do if they disagree with its terms. If your parents decided to leave the family home to one of your younger siblings and divided the rest of their estate disparately, or left you out of the will entirely, the chances are high that a probate court would honor their wishes. Disputing a will might be costlier than what it is worth, as well. However, there are some instances in which you might have valid reasons to contest your loved ones’ wishes.
According to AARP, challenging a will is usually quite difficult. You might have the best chance of success if you can prove that the will was in some way flawed or invalid. For example, you might want to consider contesting a will if one of your siblings had your parents sign a will under duress, or if they did not have the capacity to understand what they were signing. They might have been suffering from dementia, the effects of a stroke or simply been intoxicated at the time they were asked to sign. In order for the document to be valid, the person signing a will must be of sound mind and understand what he or she is signing.
Suspected forgery or fraud are other reasons you might think a will is invalid. Also, when a newer will is created, the old one should be destroyed – however, mistakes are sometimes made and an older will might be used instead of an updated one.
You might have a challenge ahead of you if you decide to take on the validity of a family member’s will. However, as detailed above, you do not always have to accept that a will is the final word. Since this area of estate planning law is complex, it is not recommended that this blog post replace the advice of a lawyer.