Oftentimes, those who seek our assistance here at the Lang Law Office do so not to help draft a will, but to contest one. When you have concerns about the validity of your loved one’s will, you need to know what steps you must take to contest it. Simply not agreeing with its terms isn’t enough to challenge a will in court.
According to section 524.3-407 of the Uniform Probate Code of Minnesota, you can legally dispute a will under the following circumstances:
- Your loved one’s diminished capacity led to a lack of understand of what he or she was doing.
- He or she created the terms of the will under duress or based upon undue influence from other parties.
- He or she made blatant mistakes in the creation of the will.
- His or her most recent wishes revoked the terms of a previous will.
- The will may be fraudulent.
You must have evidence to corroborate any of the scenarios listed above that may apply to your case.
To initiate a dispute, you need to file a petition with probate court in the same county through which the will was probated. You must then contact all of the heirs, beneficiaries, and anyone else with an interest in the will to notify them of your dispute. Any of the aforementioned parties that respond to your petition must be given access to any evidence you have contesting the validity of the will. At the same time, you must be shown any evidence that they may have the disputes your claim. You can then decide whether to try and negotiate a settlement over the disputed estate, or to take your case to trial.
For further information on matters pertaining to estate administration, please continue to browse our site.