Once a will is offered for probate, any interested party has the opportunity to contest the validity of a will. An interest party is someone who would take if the will was invalid. These are the same persons who would take if the decedent died without a will. Those persons are the same person who inherit from a decedent under the New York intestacy law. Except for a spouse, these are all blood relatives.
The grounds for contesting a will are lack of due execution, incapacity of the testator (the person making the will), undue influence, fraud, and mistake. The most common ground for contesting a will is undue influence.
Sometimes, a will will contain a “no contest” clause, making a contest of a will more problematic.
Call us if you find yourself in the position of either defending or contesting a will.
