A will serves as the last instructions provided by a deceased individual. The terms included in a will can provide support for their loved ones and establish the foundation of their long-term legacy. Many people invest a significant amount of time and careful consideration into their wills.
They craft unique terms based on their goals and their family relationships. They want to support their loved ones in a meaningful way that reflects their values. Families often do everything in their power to uphold an individual’s wishes as outlined in their will and other estate planning documents.
However, there are some unusual scenarios in which those left behind after someone dies may question the validity of a will. Sometimes, family members and other loved ones of the decedent believe that an outside party may have exerted undue influence on the testator and manipulated the terms of the will.
What are some of the warning signs of undue influence on a will?
The testator’s vulnerability
When people question the terms included in a will, looking at the date when the testator drafted the document can provide valuable insight. If the signing date was later in their life, they may have already been socially or medically vulnerable. They may have depended on their spouse, children, other family members or hired professionals for basic necessities. That vulnerability may have made them susceptible to undue influence.
Caregivers with increased inheritances
Undue influence involves the use of a personal relationship to threaten, coerce, trick or manipulate an individual into shifting their testamentary instructions. Typically, families expressing concern about undue influence need to show that someone inherited an unexpectedly large portion of the estate or received an inheritance despite not having been part of earlier versions of the estate plan.
A caregiver who becomes a beneficiary at the expense of surviving family members may have exerted undue influence. A spouse or child who provided support to an older loved one might receive a much larger inheritance than the decedent previously allocated to them. Both of those scenarios can be reasons to question whether the caregiver beneficiary may have unfairly influenced the testator using their position.
What happens in a will contest?
When people have reason to question the validity of an estate plan, they ask the courts to review the documents and the circumstances. If the courts affirm that undue influence may have undermined the testator’s true intentions, they can set the compromised will aside. In some cases, there may be an earlier version of the estate plan that the courts can defer to during probate proceedings. Other times, they may treat the estate as though the testator died without a will and may apply intestate succession laws.
Addressing questionable estate planning terms through probate litigation can potentially help families do what is right. A successful will contest can eliminate or reduce the inheritance someone secured through misconduct and can uphold the true intentions of a recently deceased individual.
