contesting a will

[dakota port]

say there is someone whom a person favors more over others in the family for example: grandparents are taken care of by a grandchild and leave said grandchild alot of their property/funds

now say a family member say their child or 2 contests their will saying that they should get more as direct children and get a lawyer and they take it to court is there a way to prevent this problem from occurring or is it not even a worry if the will is written out in detail by a lawyer

i think we have some lawyers here

 

[jcountry]

say there is someone whom a person favors more over others in the family for example: grandparents are taken care of by a grandchild and leave said grandchild alot of their property/funds

now say a family member say their child or 2 contests their will saying that they should get more as direct children and get a lawyer and they take it to court is there a way to prevent this problem from occurring or is it not even a worry if the will is written out in detail by a lawyer

i think we have some lawyers here

I ain't no lawyer, but I did stay at Holiday Inn last night.....

I come from a family where there are issues. We spent a few hundred at a good estate lawyer to have a proper will drawn up. I would suggest that this is the best route to go..... Especially if you expect fighting. A few hundred now to have something like that done properly by someone who knows what they are doing can save tens of thousands down the road. Every situation is different, and should be treated as such. Talk to someone who knows what he is doing, and get set up right. I would not trust any of these online services if you have any inkling there may be fighting involved. These things much be done right.

-Estate fights ain't cheap.... But a $800 will would sure seem like a cheap way to have avoided one in hindsight.

-Just sayin'-we have been down that road, and it was money well spent.

 

[Cat Herder]

Had an uncle who expected trouble between his boys...put in if either contests the will, they are cut out and their sibling gets it all. Be careful what you wish for!

 

[B. Byrd]

Good advice from jcountry. And note he said estate lawyer, not the guy in the mall who does all kinds of general law. If you are expecting a fight, get it right the first time.

 

[jcountry]

Good advice from jcountry. And note he said estate lawyer, not the guy in the mall who does all kinds of general law. If you are expecting a fight, get it right the first time.

Also-

Don't assume that our price would be your price. Our situation was very complicated, and some things were done specifically to avoid a fight in probate. You might could get away cheaper. But I sure would hunt around for a GOOD estate lawyer. All lawyers are not capable of doing this right.

 

[jwhited]

My family is about to go through this process. My Grandma rewrote her will specifically to remove my Mom after being diagnosed with dementia. Grandma died last week, and now my uncle in Virginia is the only one that's able to sort it out.

Depending on how it goes, my family may or may not have to contest the will, based on the fact that Grandma wasn't exactly of sound mind at the time she changed it.

 

[FrogMan]

yes definitely preempt this problem with a lawyer

 

[chucklenut]

I ain't no lawyer, but I did stay at Holiday Inn last night.....

I come from a family where there are issues. We spent a few hundred at a good estate lawyer to have a proper will drawn up. I would suggest that this is the best route to go..... Especially if you expect fighting. A few hundred now to have something like that done properly by someone who knows what they are doing can save tens of thousands down the road. Every situation is different, and should be treated as such. Talk to someone who knows what he is doing, and get set up right. I would not trust any of these online services if you have any inkling there may be fighting involved. These things much be done right.

-Estate fights ain't cheap.... But a $800 will would sure seem like a cheap way to have avoided one in hindsight.

-Just sayin'-we have been down that road, and it was money well spent.

this is the response i would do

my family got into it in the exact way described, no will was around that made it easy to split everything, plus alot of people had a claim so wills are the way to go

 

[zesty]

I've seen it go badly twice. One family completely lost out on some special items because they were too easy going with the other siblings. Another family wound up with grudges over what amounted to a few thousand dollars each.

In both cases, if the parents would have just wrote out some instructions on a piece of notebook paper I believe it would have solved a lot of problems. I'm very happy I got my will done with a Lawyer though. There was a lot I hadn't thought about that the lawyer was able to cover in our will.