Probate litigation may be filed as a result of concerns about the conduct of a personal representative. Occasionally, even if a personal representative shows every indication of competently and ethically fulfilling their responsibilities, other parties may still need to take legal action.
In cases where there are concerns about the validity of a will or other estate planning paperwork, family members of the decedent or those expecting to inherit from the estate might contest or challenge the document in court. If there are credible concerns about an individual’s testamentary capacity, the courts may set aside a will.
What is testamentary capacity?
Most legal adults benefit from the presumption that they have testamentary capacity. It is essentially the ability to understand documents and to enter into a legal agreement. When families contest a will on the basis of the testator lacking capacity when they drafted it, they have to provide evidence supporting their claims.
Typically, they need to show that the testator was unable to understand the impact of the documents that they drafted, possibly due to dementia or other serious medical challenges. If the testator was unable to identify their personal assets, name their beneficiaries or independently explain the purpose of the will, then they may not have had the necessary capacity to draft a valid will.
In cases where issues with capacity undermine a will’s usefulness, the courts might defer to a prior version of the will drafted before the testator’s health declined. Other times, the courts might use state law as a guideline for distributing property among close family members of the deceased individual.
The timeline for an older adult’s medical decline can help concerned families determine if probate litigation might be possible. Contesting invalid wills can sometimes help families pursue the true intentions of a person who has died.