Estate planning documents may be updated several times throughout someone’s life. The needs of a college student or a young professional are vastly different from the estate planning requirements of a new parent or a retired adult. Although it is best to start estate planning early in life, people often have to revisit their documents multiple times as their circumstances evolve. Someone’s health and family situation, as well as their personal resources, are often determining factors in re: what they want to do with their property when they die and what kind of support they may request in the ..read more

After a loved one has passed on, you most likely want to honor their wishes, including how they wanted their property and assets to be distributed. However, sometimes the only way to fulfill their legacy may involve challenging their will.  Maybe one of the beneficiaries will receive more than the testator intended to leave behind, or perhaps some of the instructions contradict some statements the testator had made. As a potential heir, if you suspect your loved one’s will contradicts their stated wishes, you can challenge the estate documents.   But are there risks of challengi ..read more

Ideally, an estate will be distributed to the heirs without any sort of conflict among them. They will all simply follow the instructions in the estate plan and things will go as intended. However, this does not always happen, and estate disputes – particularly among siblings — are common. These disputes can take a while to resolve, so it can be helpful to see them coming in advance. Here are some red flags that may mean siblings or others are more likely to get involved in a dispute. There is geographical separation In some cases, siblings who don’t live near each other are more likely to get ..read more

Inheritance theft isn’t something anyone wants to think someone in their family is capable of. Unfortunately, however, inheritance theft does occur. A family doesn’t have to be especially wealthy to experience inheritance theft. It occurs with estates of all sizes. While outright theft of assets is certainly one type of inheritance theft, there are other ways to deprive heirs of the assets their loved one would have wanted them to have. For example, sometimes family members, caregivers and others will use undue influence, coercion or trickery of some sort to get a person to change their will o ..read more

Losing someone close to you is hard enough, but learning that their will is completely contrary to what they always told you it would be can be even worse. The inheritance that they always promised you may have included property that has real emotional value to you in addition to whatever financial value it represents. Now, someone else will receive that property instead of you.  If the will or other estate documents produced when your loved one dies are quite different from their lifelong estate plan or the wishes they discussed with the family previously, you may want to contest the wil ..read more

If you suspect your loved one was a victim of undue influence when making their will, you can challenge its validity in a probate court.  Undue influence happens between the perpetrator and the victim and takes time. In most cases, the victim and the people around them may even be unaware it is happening. How, then, do you go about proving that your loved one was unduly influenced into making their will? The evidence is usually circumstantial Proof of undue influence is mostly indirect due to the lack of witnesses. The court may have to rely on circumstantial evidence when making its dete ..read more

Realizing that your loved one didn’t have the estate plan you thought they did can be a disappointing experience. Most of the time, you have to accept your dissatisfaction with their decision and move on with your life. However, in cases where you suspect someone else had a hand in those changes, you may be able to fight back. If any of the three signs below were present in your family, that could be a warning that undue influence may have impacted your loved one’s legacy. The family member serving as caregiver isolated the testator Perhaps it was a new, young stepparent who provided for your ..read more

Losing a loved one is tragic, and the loss can be compounded by finding out you have been left out of a will or gotten less than you expected from their estate.  Under certain circumstances, you can challenge a will in court – but you do need to consider several things. First, you can only challenge a will if you are the beneficiary of the current will, were listed as a beneficiary in a prior will, or you would have been a beneficiary had there been no will and intestacy laws applied. Reasons for contesting a will If you have the legal capacity to contest a will, you also need grounds for ..read more

Many people who accept the role of executor for family and friends agree to serve in that capacity without seeking compensation. There may be little money in the estate and the duties may be perfunctory enough that there is no need to seek payment. But then there are cases that can be extraordinarily complex, with bickering or missing heirs. The executors may have to do a lot of work and subsequently deserve to be paid for their time and efforts. What determines an executor’s fees? In the state of Washington, executors are entitled to “reasonable compensation.” The probate court must approve e ..read more

When someone dies and their estate plans hold some unpleasant surprises, you might consider challenging their will. Before you announce your intention to do so, however, give yourself time to decide if it is the right thing to do. Will contests can create significant disruption for all involved. They delay the estate distribution and diminish its value as estate funds will be used to deal with the will contest. Ultimately, only you can decide if the personal and financial factors involved make the idea of contesting someone’s will a good idea or not, but there are a few things you need to cons ..read more