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Common Reasons to Contest a Will

A common reason to contest a will in Florida lawyer can help you if you believe that you may have grounds to initiate a will contest. A common reason for contesting a will lawyer in Florida will be the first person you turn to get these questions answered and ensure that you have the appropriate standing to request a will contest. It can be overwhelming and frustrating to realize that a loved one did not carry out his or her estate planning in the manner that you expected.

But this does not always automatically entitle you to the legal proceedings to contest a will. You need to sit down with a Florida lawyer and discuss your eligibility to move forward with such a claim as well as what might be required in court. Even if someone has a will, the validity may be disputed. This can lead to a longer probate.

This is one of the most common reasons for a will contest in Florida. Sometimes the dispute in and of itself maybe invalid but there may be many other cases in which there are valid issues surrounding the legality of the will. The people who can contest a Florida will are; the person who inherits property if the will is not valid and it is proven or a beneficiary. A proving undue influence attorney in Florida should be contacted immediately.

The will contest will not stand up in court simply because one of these individuals believes that the will is unfair. One of four legal concerns must be presented in a will contest in order for it to be fair. The first of these is known as fraud. If it is proven that a will was signed or procured by fraud, then it is invalid legally. If a testator is gives untrue information that leads the person to update the will’s terms or when a testator puts his or her signature on a document believing it is some other legal agreement, this can be allegations of fraud. Fraudulent wills are often hard to prove in court but if you think there is fraud involved in your loved one’s will, you need to hire an experienced probate attorney.

The second reason for a will contest in Florida is noncompliance with the law. The will must have been signed and created in accordance with Florida law. If it was not signed in the presence of two witnesses, it could be classified as legally invalid. Failure to comply with these stipulations is one of the most popular reasons for a will contest. Another common reason for will contest in Florida is undue influence or coercion. A caregiver or a member of the family may put pressure on a testator causing him or her to update the will’s terms. This pressure can be done through physical, emotional, financial or verbal abuse.

Undue influence can be hard to prove and this is why you need experienced probate attorney to help you. The fourth reason that someone might choose to dispute a will in Florida, is known as mental incapacity. Potential beneficiaries or actual beneficiaries may contest a will because they believe that the testator was not mentally competent and of the right mind to sign the will at the time. Laws governing mental capacity can be disproved easily. You need doctor statements and witness statements in addition to medical records in order to allege that someone was mentally unfit at the time of signing a will. Given these complex issues, you should only move forward with a claim like this if you believe if you have a great deal of evidence to support yourself and if you have the support of a knowledgeable attorney who has been practicing in this field for many years. The support of a lawyer can be especially helpful given the complex statues governing wills.


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