ABA Family Legal Guide

Estate Planning

Probate

What does it mean when a will is contested?

Human nature being what it is, some people who don't receive what they consider a fair share from a dead relative's will may want to challenge, that is, contest, the will.

Chief among the grounds for a will contest is that the will was not executed properly; the testator lacked testamentary capacity (the ability to make a will—for example, he was senile when he left his estate to the named beneficiary); undue influence (the evil sister hypnotized her dying brother into leaving her the whole estate); fraud (the evil brother retyped a page of the will to give himself the Porsche collection); or mistake (you will your million-dollar summer home to "my cousin John" and it turns out you have three cousins named John).