Contested Wills

Will Disputes | Estate Disputes | Probate

Will Disputes:
A will can be challenged in a Massachusetts probate proceeding on a number of grounds.

  • Lack of Proper Formalities. Proper execution of a will requires that the will be signed by the testator and witnessed by two witnesses, who also sign the will. A will can be contested on the grounds that it was not properly drafted, signed, or witnessed in accordance with the applicable requirements.
  • Lack of Capacity. Under Massachusetts law, a testator is required to have mental competency to make a will and to understand the nature of his or her assets and the people to whom the assets are going to be distributed. A will can be declared void if lack of capacity can be proven. Typically, incompetence is established through a prior medical diagnosis of dementia, Alzheimer’s, or psychosis, or through the testimony of witnesses as to the irrational conduct of the deceased around the time the will was executed.
  • Undue Influence. Undue influence occurs when the testator is compelled or coerced to execute a will as a result of improper pressure exerted on him or her, typically by a relative, friend, trusted advisor, or health care worker. In many cases, the undue influencer will upset a long established estate plan where the bulk of the estate was to pass to the direct descendants or other close relatives of the decedent. Some undue influencers are new friends or acquaintances of the decedent who “befriend” the decedent in the last months or years of life, typically after the decedent has suffered some decline in mental ability. In other situations, one child of the decedent, often a caregiver, will coerce the decedent to write the other children out of the will. Undue influencers can also be health care workers or live in aides who implicitly or explicitly threaten to withhold care unless the estate plan is changed in favor of the health care worker.

Not just a will can be challenged under these grounds. A trust can be challenged under the same grounds, as well as a real estate deed or a beneficiary designation on a financial account. There are many situations where the undue influencer will trick or persuade a weakened person to sign over valuable real estate, a bank account, or other property directly to the influencer, in the hope that they will have left the scene before the wrongdoing can be discovered. Sometimes, the undue influencer will be added as a beneficiary on bank accounts in place of the heirs to whom the decedent intended the account to pass.

Estate Allocation Issues:
Probate in  Massachusetts is the process of passing the assets of a deceased person to his or her heirs, after the payment of creditors. The lawyers of  Garabedian & Elloian P.A. represent personal representatives and beneficiaries in the Massachusetts probate process, statewide.  A significant part of our  Massachusetts probate practice is assisting out of state beneficiaries with Massachusetts probate matters. Our Massachusetts probate services can be divided into the following areas.

  • Probate Administration
  • Probate Litigation
  • Will Contests
  • Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Beneficiary Rights
  • Ancillary Probate
  • Probate for Non US Citizens
  • Elective Share
  • Abuse of a Power of Attorney
  • Trust Litigation
  • Wrongful Death Litigation
  • Intenational Estate Litigation

Probate:
Probate in  Massachusetts is the process of passing the assets of a deceased person to his or her heirs, after the payment of creditors. The lawyers of  Garabedian & Elloian P.A. represent personal representatives and beneficiaries in the Massachusetts probate process, statewide.  A significant part of our  Massachusetts probate practice is assisting out of state beneficiaries with Massachusetts probate matters. Our Massachusetts probate services can be divided into the following areas.

  • Probate Administration
  • Probate Litigation
  • Will Contests
  • Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Beneficiary Rights
  • Ancillary Probate
  • Probate for Non US Citizens
  • Elective Share
  • Abuse of a Power of Attorney
  • Trust Litigation
  • Intentional Estate Litigation

The Worcester, Massachusetts contested Will attorneys at Garabedian & Elloian serve Central Massachusetts, Worcester County, and Middlesex County including Shrewsbury, Auburn, Grafton, Westborough, Marlborough, Northborough, Southborough, Boylston, West Boylston, Holden, Leominster, Paxton, Sutton, Millbury, Upton, Oxford, Fitchburg and Northbridge.