Common Reasons for Estate Litigation

Probate lawyers often reassure their clients that probate is a routine process, more like filing an income tax return than being a party in a lawsuit.  This is true except when it isn’t.  Uncomplicated probate cases account for the majority of estates, but the reason that probate exists is to serve as a venue for legal disputes over the property of recently deceased people.  Better that someone should sue the estate of a relative of yours from whom you stand to inherit money than that the same person should sue you over money that you inherited from a deceased family member decades ago and have long since spent.  If the estate that you are representing runs into legal challenges, remember that you are not the only person who has ever had to deal with probate disputes.  You can get through it with the help of a Bronx estate planning lawyer.

Challenges to the Will

The law requires the probate court to follow the instructions in the decedent’s will.  If the decedent wrote a will, the only way the heirs, or people who believe that they should be heirs, can get the court to deviate from the text of the will is to persuade the probate court that the will is legally invalid.  They can do this if they successfully prove one of the following claims:

• The decedent wrote a later version of the will than the one the personal representative has presented to the probate court.
• The decedent did not mean what he or she said in the will, either because the decedent was too ill to understand what he or she was saying or because of undue influence, meaning that someone coerced or defrauded the decedent into signing the will that the probate court is currently following.
• The will does not meet formal legal requirements, such as if the witnesses are not residents of New York or if the will is handwritten.

The Surviving Spouse’s Elective Share

Disinherited relatives are out of luck unless they can prove that the will is invalid.  The only exception is the decedent’s surviving spouse.  The surviving spouse can claim an elective share of the decedent’s estate, half or a third, depending on whether the couple had children, if the decedent disinherited him or her.  This requires a legal challenge in probate, though.

Contentious Creditor Claims

Creditors get first dibs on the estate, before the beneficiaries of the will inherit anything.  Most of the time, a creditor files a claim, and the estate simply pays it.  If there is room for disagreement over how much, if anything, the decedent owed the creditor, the personal representative has the right to challenge the creditor claim.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

An estate planning lawyer can answer your questions about representing a deceased person’s estate in probate court and defending against legal challenges that may arise.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

casetext.com/regulation/new-york-codes-rules-and-regulations/title-22-judiciary/subtitle-a-judicial-administration/chapter-ii-uniform-rules-for-the-new-york-state-trial-courts/part-207-uniform-rules-for-the-surrogates-court/section-20719-probate-filing-of-will-depositions-proof-by-affidavit