#the knowledge is lost in law's generation but he's being 'guided' and 'kept alive'
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Been thinking a lot about Oda choosing Queen of Night as Law's image flower.
Like. Isn't that really important? In a story heavily featuring sun symbolism, MC with an image flower called Sun-facer, being assigned with "Beauty under Moonlight" is a dead giveaway that the author considers his role to be complimentary to the protagonist, an alternate source of light that takes its light from the sun.
A lot of Japanese fans think the last bit of vegapunk's message, "Those of you who are toyed by that fate, I hope this message reaches you" - was directed at Law's plot. There's no other D who is currently alive and interested in their "checkered fate" other than Law. Dawn and Dusk shared an interesting observation about Law's family being the only family of D's confirmed to originate from the opposite side of the red line (x). Then there's the hidden family name, and a five billion berry devil fruit ability. The groundwork has been laid out and none of these have been properly explained yet, there's no way Law wouldn't be important to the endgame plot.
#I'm still onboard my theory that Law's ancestors didn't belong to the ancient kingdom#but they embraced their will and passed it down in own bloodline - perhaps to fulfill some sort of duty#the knowledge is lost in law's generation but he's being 'guided' and 'kept alive'#it's all probably a red flag but let's stay hopeful#even though losing his hat was Hella ominous#BUT LET'S STAY HOPEFUL#one piece#one piece meta#1 am feels#it's not 1 am tho#trafalgar law#trafalgar d. water law#monkey d. luffy#mine
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Why Was the Prophet Polygamous?: Part 2
Khadija was the Prophet's first wife. As mentioned above, she married him before his call to Prophethood. Even though she was 15 years his senior, she bore all of his children, except for Ibrahim, who did not survive infancy. Khadija was also his friend, the sharer of his inclinations and ideals to a remarkable degree. Their marriage was wonderfully blessed, for they lived together in profound harmony for 23 years. Through every trial and persecution launched by the Makkan unbelievers, she was his dearest companion and helper. He loved her very deeply and married no other woman while she was alive.
This marriage is the ideal of intimacy, friendship, mutual respect, support, and consolation. Though faithful and loyal to all his wives, he never forgot Khadija and mentioned her virtues and merits extensively on many occasions. He married another woman only 4 or 5 years after Khadija's death. Until that time, he served as both a mother and a father to his children, providing their daily food and provisions as well as bearing their troubles and hardships. To allege that such a man was a sensualist or driven by sexual lust is nonsensical.
'A'isha was the daughter of Abu Bakr, his closest friend and devoted follower. One of the earliest converts, Abu Bakr had long hoped to cement the deep attachment between himself and the Prophet through marriage. By marrying 'A'isha, the Prophet accorded the highest honor and courtesy to a man who had shared all the good and bad times with him. In this way, Abu Bakr and 'A'isha acquired the distinction of being spiritually and physically close to the Prophet.
'A'isha proved to be a remarkably intelligent and wise woman, for she had both the nature and temperament to carry forward the work of Prophetic mission. Her marriage prepared her to be a spiritual guide and teacher to all women. She became one of the Prophet's major students and disciples. Through him, like so many Muslims of that blessed time, her skills and talents were matured and perfected so that she could join him in the abode of bliss both as wife and as student.
Her life and service to Islam prove that such an exceptional person was worthy to be the Prophet's wife. She was one of the greatest authorities on hadith, an excellent Qur'anic commentator, and a most distinguished and knowledgeable expert on Islamic law. She truly represented the inner and outer qualities and experiences of Prophet Muhammad. This is surely why the Prophet was told in a dream that he would marry 'A'isha. Thus, when she was still innocent and knew nothing of men and worldly affairs, she was prepared and entered the Prophet's household.
Umm Salama of the Makhzum clan, was first married to her cousin. The couple had embraced Islam at the very beginning and emigrated to Abyssinia to avoid persecution. After their return, they and their four children migrated to Madina. Her husband participated in many battles and died after being severely wounded at the Battle of Uhud. Abu Bakr and 'Umar proposed marriage to her, aware of her needs and suffering as a destitute widow with children to support. She refused, believing that no one could be better than her late husband.
Some time after that, the Prophet proposed marriage. This was quite right and natural, for this great woman had never shied from sacrifice and suffering for Islam. Now that she was alone after having lived many years in the noblest Arabian clan, she could not be neglected and left to beg her way in life. Considering her piety, sincerity, and what she had suffered, she certainly deserved to be helped. By marrying her, the Prophet was doing what he had always done: befriending those lacking in friends, supporting the unsupported, and protecting the unprotected. In her present circumstances, there was no kinder or more gracious way of helping her.
Umm Salama also was intelligent and quick to understand. She had all the capacities and gifts to become a spiritual guide and teacher. When the Prophet took her under his protection, a new student to whom all women would be grateful was accepted into the school of knowledge and guidance. As the Prophet was now almost 60, marrying a widow with many children and assuming the related expenses and responsibilities can only be understood as an act of compassion that deserves our admiration for his infinite reserves of humanity.
Umm Habiba was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, an early and most determined enemy of the Prophet and supporter of Makkah's polytheistic and idolatrous religion. Yet his daughter was one of the earliest Muslims. She emigrated to Abyssinia with her husband, where he eventually renounced his faith and embraced Christianity. Although separated from her husband, she remained a Muslim. Shortly after that, her husband died and she was left all alone and desperate in exile.
The Companions, at that time few in number and barely able to support themselves, could not offer much help. So, what were her options? She could convert to Christianity and get help that way (unthinkable). She could return to her father's home, now a headquarters of the war against Islam (unthinkable). She could wander from house to house as a beggar, but again it was an unthinkable option for a member of one of the richest and noblest Arab families to bring shame upon her family name by doing so.
God recompensed Umm Habiba for her lonely exile in an insecure environment among people of a different race and religion, and for her despair at her husband's apostasy and death, by arranging for the Prophet to marry her. Learning of her plight, the Prophet sent an offer of marriage through the king Negus. This noble and generous action was a practical proof of: We have not sent you save as a mercy for all creatures (21:107).
Thus Umm Habiba joined the Prophet's household as a wife and student, and contributed much to the moral and spiritual life of those who learned from her. This marriage linked Abu Sufyan's powerful family to the Prophet's person and household, which caused its members to re-evaluate their attitudes. It also is correct to trace the influence of this marriage, beyond the family of Abu Sufyan and to the Umayyads in general, who ruled the Muslims for almost a century.
This clan, whose members had been the most fanatical in their hatred of Islam, produced some of Islam's most renowned early warriors, administrators, and governors. Without doubt, it was this marriage that began this change, for the Prophet's depth of generosity and magnanimity of soul surely overwhelmed them.
Zaynab bint Jahsh was a lady of noble birth and a close relative of the Prophet. She was, moreover, a woman of great piety, who fasted much, kept long vigils, and gave generously to the poor. When the Prophet arranged for her to marry Zayd, an African exslave whom he had adopted as his son, Zaynab's family and Zaynab herself were at first unwilling. The family had hoped to marry their daughter to the Prophet. But when they realized that the Prophet had decided otherwise, they consented out of deference to their love for the Prophet and his authority.
Zayd had been enslaved as a child during a tribal war. Khadija, who had bought him, had given him to Muhammad as a present when she married him. The Prophet had freed immediately him and, shortly afterwards, adopted him as his son. He insisted on this marriage to establish and fortify equality between the Muslims, and to break down the Arab prejudice against a slave or even freedman marrying a free-born woman.
The marriage was an unhappy one. The noble-born Zaynab was a good Muslim of a most pious and exceptional quality. The freedman Zayd was among the first to embrace Islam, and he also was a good Muslim. Both loved and obeyed the Prophet, but they were not a compatible couple. Zayd asked the Prophet several times to allow them to divorce. However, he was told to persevere with patience and not separate from Zaynab.
But then one day Gabriel came with a Divine Revelation that the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab was a bond already contracted: We have married her to you (33:37). This command was one of the severest trials the Prophet, had yet had to face, for he was being told to break a social taboo. Yet it had to be done for the sake of God, just as God commanded. 'A'isha later said: "Had the Messenger been inclined to suppress any part of the Revelation, surely he would have suppressed this verse."
Divine wisdom decreed that Zaynab join the Prophet's household, so that she could be prepared to guide and enlighten the Muslims. As his wife, she proved herself most worthy of her new position by always being aware of her responsibilities and the courtesies proper to her role, all of which she fulfilled to universal admiration.
Before Islam, an adopted son was considered a natural son. Therefore, an adopted son's wife was considered as a natural son's wife would be. According to the Qur'anic verse, former "wives of your sons proceeding from your loins" fall within the prohibited degrees of marriage. But this prohibition does not apply to adopted sons, for there is no real consanguinity. What now seems obvious was not so then. This deeply rooted tribal taboo was broken by this marriage, just as God had intended.
To have an unassailable authority for future generations of Muslims, the Prophet had to break this taboo himself. It is one more instance of his deep faith that he did as he was told, and freed his people from a legal fiction that obscured a biological, natural reality.
Juwayriya bint Harith the daughter of Harith, chief of the defeated Bani Mustaliq clan, was captured during a military campaign. She was held with other members of her proud family alongside her clan's "common" people. She was in great distress when she was taken to the Prophet, for her kinsmen had lost everything and she felt profound hate and enmity for the Muslims. The Prophet understood her wounded pride, dignity, and suffering; more important, he understood how to deal with these issues effectively. He agreed to pay her ransom, set her free, and offered to marry her.
When the Ansar and the Muhajirun realized that the Bani Mustaliq now were related to the Prophet by marriage, they freed about 100 families that had not yet been ransomed. A tribe so honored could not be allowed to remain in slavery. In this way, the hearts of Juwayriya and her people were won. Those 100 families blessed the marriage. Through his compassionate wisdom and generosity, the Prophet turned a defeat for some into a victory for all, and what had been an occasion of enmity and distress became one of friendship and joy.
Safiyya bint Huyayy was the daughter of the chieftains of the Jewish tribe of Khaybar, who had persuaded the Bani Qurayza to break their treaty with the Prophet. From her earliest days, she had seen her family and relatives oppose the Prophet. She had lost her father, brother, and husband in battles against the Muslims, and eventually was captured by them.
The attitudes and actions of her family and relatives might have nurtured in her a deep desire for revenge. However, 3 days before the Prophet reached Khaybar, she dreamed of a brilliant moon coming out from Madina, moving toward Khaybar, and falling into her lap. She later said: "When I was captured, I began to hope that my dream would come true." When she was brought before the Prophet as a captive, he set her free and offered her the choice of remaining a Jewess and returning to her people, or entering Islam and becoming his wife. "I chose God and his Messenger" she said. Shortly after that, they were married.
Elevated to the Prophet's household, she witnessed at first hand the Muslims' refinement and true courtesy. Her attitude to her past experiences changed, and she came to appreciate the great honor of being the Prophet's wife. As a result of this marriage, the attitude of many Jews changed as they came to see and know the Prophet closely. It is worth noting that such close relations between Muslims and non-Muslims can help people to understand each other better and to establish mutual respect and tolerance as social norms.
Sawda bint Zam'ah ibn Qays was the widow of Sakran. Among the first to embrace Islam, they had emigrated to Abyssinia to escape the Makkans' persecution. Sakran died in exile, and left his wife utterly destitute. As the only means of assisting her, the Prophet, though himself having a hard time making ends meet, married her. This marriage took place some time after Khadija's death.
Hafsa was the daughter of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the future second caliph of Islam. This good lady had lost her husband, who emigrated to both Abyssinia and Madina, where he was fatally wounded during a battle in the path of God. She remained without a husband for a while. 'Umar desired the honor and blessing of being close to the Prophet in this world and in the Hereafter. The Prophet honored this desire by marrying Hafsa to protect and to help the daughter of his faithful disciple.
Given the above facts, it is clear that the Prophet married these women for a variety of reasons: to provide helpless or widowed women with dignified subsistence; to console and honor enraged or estranged tribes; to bring former enemies into some degree of relationship and harmony; to gain certain uniquely gifted men and women for Islam; to establish new norms of relationship between people within the unifying brotherhood of faith in God; and to honor with family bonds the two men who were to be the first leaders of the Muslim community after his death. These marriages had nothing to do with self-indulgence, personal desire, or lust. With the exception of 'A'isha, all of the Prophet's wives were widows, and all of his post-Khadija marriages were contracted when he was already an old man. Far from being acts of self-indulgence, these marriages were acts of self-discipline.
Part of that discipline was providing each wife with the most meticulously observed justice, dividing equally whatever slender resources he allowed for their subsistence, accommodation, and allowance. He also divided his time with them equally, and regarded and treated them with equal friendship and respect. The fact that all of his wives got on well with each other is no small tribute to his genius for creating peace and harmony. With each of them, he was not only a provider but also a friend and companion.
The number of the Prophet's wives was a dispensation unique to him. Some of the merits and wisdom of this dispensation, as we understand them, have been explained. All other Muslims are allowed a maximum of four wives at one time. When that Revelation restricting polygamy came, the Prophet's marriages had already been contracted. Thereafter, he married no other women.
#allah#god#prophet#Muhammad#quran#ayah#sunnah#hadith#islam#muslim#muslimah#hijab#help#revert#convert#dua#salah#pray#prayer#reminder#religion#welcome to islam#how to convert to islam#new convert#new revert#new muslim#revert help#convert help#islam help#muslim help
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619: "Running Wild! Invincible General Franky!"
Pirate King, eh?
You know what? I’m almost apprehensive to leave Punk Hazard behind.
It was such a fun arc and ticked lots of my personal boxes (Caesar is absolutely awful and a treasure of a villain, I have decided). This apprehension is only because I don’t know what’s coming next. Judging by the plot threads Oda has set up so far, it’s fingers crossed I’ll enjoy Dressrosa as much as Punk Hazard.
This episode seemed to be split in two: the fond farewell to the arc and looking forward to the next. In one particular scene, both merged very effectively.
And Now, We Wait.
The Strawhats waiting for Usopp, Chopper and Brook was definitely a tying up of loose ends. The final piece of the puzzle of Punk Hazard is complete. Now, they only need to escape.
I love this shot. While the others were clambering onto Law’s truck, desperate to escape the lab caving in about them, Luffy and the other Strawhats calmly sat facing the door, unwilling to give up hope until all hope was lost. Because Luffy waited, they all stood by him and did the same. ;_;
The Strawhats definitely have Usopp to thank for guiding Chopper and Brook to safety. “50 meters to go! The Gate is closing. Slide in!” The gas really was gaining at that point but Brook kept everyone’s spirits up. “It’s only over when you give up.”
Chopper, Mocha and the G5 guys burst through first, followed by a very narrow scrape through by Brook and (frozen) Kinemon! Luffy was relieved. You could see the sweat beads on his forehead. But he never gave up hope and his faith in his crew paid off. (But it always helps to have someone like Usopp around, so credit where it is due.)
Another clue that the Strawhats might actually capture Caesar is that Usopp retrieved the cuffs from the Minions. They were so grateful for what Usopp had done for them that they fought to hand over their cuffs.
The only slightly bad thing was that Brook accidentally let slip that Kinemon had been caught by the gas right in front of his kid.
Don’t think Momonosuke will be happy his dad is dead.
Is he dead, though? The other minions and G5 guys were left behind but why would Brook bother to bring Kinemon, if he couldn’t be revived? Unless it’ll be an honourable samurai funeral situation... ;_;
Actual Knife Energy
Meanwhile, outside at the Sunny, the Mega Mecha Air Battle between Franky and the Baby 5/Buffalo team was definitely looking to the future (specifically, the future battles and rivalries between Doflamingo and the Strawhat pirates).
As Baby 5 and Buffalo retreated from Franky’s firestorm of laser bullets, they hovered at a safe distance and had a “wtf is that?” moment. An old kung-fu movie style sequence of increasing close ups followed (I laughed). Then, without warning, Franky unleashed a General Left.
Baby 5 and Buffalo were sent reeling again. It was interesting they recognised Franky’s “pacifista” weapons straight away, and that they briefly considered Franky was one of Caesar’s inventions before realising Caesar has no interest in “human” weapons. I guess Caesar’s more a biochem kind of guy.
Well, whatever Franky was, Baby 5 said, if it wanted a fight...
She fired a ton of bullets in Franky’s general direction and thought she’d got him until the smoke cleared and a flash of glowing yellow cyborg eyes said, “Nope. Not even close.”
Then Franky injected a bit of humour into the firefight. Dat General Shield that was way too small. Dat Boomerang! xD
His dumb delaying tactics annoyed Baby 5 into changing form. Now, I am guessing Baby 5 and Buffalo have eaten those types of fruits that let you transform into objects (kind of the opposite of Funkfreed). Would those be Zoan fruits, or something else?
At any rate, their teamwork is pretty good. Buffalo knows how to support Baby 5 and set up her attacks. She transformed into a blade first (Espada Girl), then a missile (Missile Girl). It’s just a shame they’re up against Franky because he is armed to the teeth. Literally. Like, I would not be surprised if Franky has weaponised his teeth.
What probably threw Baby 5 and Buffalo was when they accused Franky of not letting them recover Caesar. Buffalo reminded Baby 5 that Doflamingo said “immediately” regarding Caesar’s recovery. (That itself is interesting. It shows Doflamingo’s orders are not to be defied.) Baby 5 transformed into a missile and yelled, “We’ll take Caesar with us!” and Franky was like, “Wtf are you talking about Caesar?”
I had an “uh oh” moment. Franky just wants to defend Sunny. Baby 5 and Buffalo want to recover Caesar. There is a tiny danger that all three will have a chat and agree to let everyone get what they want with no further conflict. Then Caesar will have escaped. Franky knows what Caesar did to the Strawhats, so I don’t think it’ll happen. But there is always a chance!
And speaking of Caesar...
The Centre of Alllllll the Trouble
I wonder if this guy knows just how much trouble he’s caused? I wonder if he knows his knowledge alone can turn the OPverse upside down? That Doflamingo sent two members of his team to retrieve him and was willing to sacrifice Monet and Vergo to do so makes it blindingly obvious.
Considering how egotistical Caesar is, he probably knows fine well and absolutely loves it.
Well, I say that. As of 619, he has no idea Doflamingo has sent anyone to rescue him. He’s currently flat out and convinced he’s going to die.
But, Caesar cannot stop being Caesar. He felt about in his coat pockets, found Smoker’s heart in a box and decided to enact some scorched earth, nuclear revenge. I mean, if he’s gonna die, right?
The scary thing about Caesar is the sheer glee he feels whenever he does something awful. “I’ll take Smoker to hell with me!” he whispered. “It’s a shame I can’t watch him die. He’ll open his eyes, vomit blood and suffocate in no time. I’m excited just imagining it!”
Okay, Caesar. You do you.
He’s also the kind of guy who keeps shanks on his person. Holding it above the heart, he grinned and said, “It’ll cause fear and panic in all those he’s with.”
That’s Caesar in a nutshell. He develops biochem weapons. He’s a serial killer. He loves causing fear and panic. Punk Hazard really was a paradise for him and he manipulated everyone else around him into believing it too.
I don’t think Smoker will die. Mostly because Law is around and he might be able to fix any heart-stabbin’ antics with his Room Plus Medical Powers.
Still, I wonder what will be next for Caesar? If he goes back to Doflamingo, it’ll be business as usual, I guess. If Luffy and Law succeed... what the hell will they do with him? Luffy hates him. Will Law take him on?
I have no idea. It could go any way, really. I suppose it depends on how devoted Caesar is to Doflamingo. Whether Caesar is willing to go down with Doflamingo (I’m assuming this’ll happen because Doflamingo is a villain and Whole Cake Island comes after Dressrosa.)
RIP, Monet and Vergo
This sequence of scenes was very cool. Lots of beautiful art too. The most interesting thing here was Monet and Vergo’s devotion to Doflamingo. That they were willing to die to help accomplish his goals. Doflamingo must either have some hellish power, hellish charisma or a hellish combination of both.
The action briefly cut to Dressrosa, where Doflamingo was taking a call from Monet. He couldn’t believe she was alive. (Neither could I. How she recovered from being halved is still a mystery.) She told him Vergo had been beaten. Caesar too. Doflamingo said not to worry. Baby 5 and Buffalo had been sent to retrieve Caesar.
Notice the lack of “and also retrieve you and Vergo.” Monet did notice... and she was fine with it.
“Oh, that’s good to hear,” she said.
Doflamingo apologised. “It’s all because of my misjudgement. I feel bad for you all but I want to make sure to wipe out all those squirts now.”
Translated: I feel bad that you and Vergo are gonna die but I need this thing done.
He wanted Monet to push Caesar’s Big Red Button, the Big Damned Bomb that was also responsible for leveling Punk Hazard. “With just the push of a button, there will be only one survivor on that island and that is Caesar.”
Jeez. That’s harsh. He just straight up told her.
“You don’t have to say anything, Joker,” Monet answered. “I was just going to do that, anyway. I’m right in front of the triggering device. The explosion will ruin the tanker. You’re gonna lose a tanker. Is that okay?”
“I need you to perish along with everything else.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
What the actual? Monet, this is your LIFE and you are worried about this guy’s TANKER? Doflamingo has crazy control over these people. The scariest thing is that it is not just fear. These people admire him as much as the Strawhats admire Luffy.
And the weirdest thing? Doflamingo seems to want to claim the Pirate King title.
That’s only Monet’s word, but why would she lie about something like that?
I always thought Doflamingo was dismissive about all the Old/New Era stuff. Now I’m wondering what his deal is.
Doflamingo at least had the grace to call Vergo for one last chat. Vergo was still in bits strung along the railing (it’s kinda gruesome, when you think about it.) He apologised to Vergo, said he had known him for the longest time and thanked him for all his work. Vergo smiled (in fractions). Like Monet, he was totally fine about dying, as long as Doflamingo said the right words.
Then, just before the island went KABOOM, Toei inserted a quick series of flashbacks. The G5 guys who sacrificed themselves with the thumbs up, the kids, the minions, Vergo, Monet, all the Strawhats, Law, Smoker, Tashigi, even Doflamingo perched on his window seat in Dressrosa pinching the bridge of his nose like, “Gawd this was a disaster...”
Now I think about it, it really was. Punk Hazard was a proper death-fest. Caesar gleefully murdered minions left, right and centre, he experimented on kids and nuked an entire island. Doflamingo is asking people to die for him. G5s sacrificed themselves. Though no one on the level of Whitebeard and Ace died, a lot of people bit the big one on Punk Hazard and it was worse in a way because at least in Marineford, they were all fighting for something. In Punk Hazard, people just died because Caesar/Doflamingo’s business.
Everyone’s fighting to survive right now.
Except Luffy. He’s riding a truck through a rapidly collapsing tunnel.
That’s his idea of a great day out.
Bye, Punk Hazard! It’s been an absolute pleasure.
#one piece#neverwatchedonepiece#nwop#never watched one piece#monkey d. luffy#donquixote doflamingo#trafalgar law#caesar clown#franky#baby 5#buffalo#monet#vergo#roronoa zoro#sanji#usopp#nami#tony tony chopper#robin#brook#foxfire kinemon#momonosuke
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How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
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Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
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Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
from Michael Anderson https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
from Criminal Defense Lawyer West Jordan Utah https://criminaldefenselawyerwestjordanutah.wordpress.com/2019/12/11/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
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Text
How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
youtube
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
youtube
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
from Michael Anderson https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/ from Divorce Lawyer Nelson Farms Utah https://divorcelawyernelsonfarmsutah.tumblr.com/post/189602366500
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Text
How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
youtube
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
youtube
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
Source: https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
0 notes
Text
How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
youtube
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
youtube
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
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Source: https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
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Text
How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
from https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
from Criminal Defense Lawyer West Jordan Utah - Blog http://criminaldefenselawyerwestjordanutah.weebly.com/blog/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah
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How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
youtube
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
youtube
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
Source: https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
0 notes
Text
How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
youtube
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
youtube
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
Source: https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
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Text
How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
youtube
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
youtube
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
Source: https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
0 notes
Text
How Do I Contest A Will In Utah?
I will define a will contest as a lawful challenge to the authenticity of an estate plan. It is not uncommon for beneficiaries of the estate of a deceased person to disagree with the purported wishes of their mother or father. The disgruntled person is usually the one who feels what has been allocated to him is less than he should have. If he manages to contest successfully, he will receive a bigger portion of the estate than what was originally assigned to him. Remember that you should stage a will contest only after the owner of the estate passes on. Read on for deeper insight into who is eligible to contest a will, legal grounds for contesting a will, the procedure to follow when contesting a will, and the cost implications of contesting a will.
youtube
Who may challenge
Of course, not every Tom, Dick and Harry has the right to contest a will. To do so, you must be an interested party in the estate plan. In other words, a portion of the estate under contest must have been allocated to you. You are contesting because you are likely to lose something if the will is executed as written. Statistics have it that spouses of the deceased are the ones most commonly involved in will contests. Children, parents, and relatives of the deceased have also been involved in will contests.
Grounds for contesting a will
We shall look at six legal grounds for contesting a will. These include:
1. Lack of testamentary capacity
2. Lack of valid execution
3. Lack of knowledge and approval
4. Undue influence
5. Fraudulent or forged wills
6. Rectification and construction claims
Lack of testamentary capacity
Utah law clearly stipulates that the testator must be of a sound mind at the time of writing and signing a will. The will is only valid when the testator:
– Is aware that he is making a will and knows the consequences of the will
– Knows the actual value of his estate which he intends to distribute among the named beneficiaries
– Knows the repercussions of including some beneficiaries in the will and leaving out others
– Is free from any medical condition that may cause him to make irrational decisions
This is normally the first port of call whenever you think of contesting a will. Ask yourself, “Did the testator have testamentary capacity?” If the answer is No, you are good to go on with the contest.
Lack of valid execution
There are a number of legal requirements that a will must meet in order for it to be legally binding. Some of the requirements concern the testator while others concern the will itself. If a will does not meet any of these requirements, it is said to lack due execution and thus can be legally contested. Below is an outline of some of the legal requirements that the will must meet.
– The testator must identify it as a will
– The testator must revoke all previous wills and codicils
– The will must be in writing
– The will must be signed by the testator, or in the event that the testator is unable to append his signature, he may direct some other person to sign on their behalf, provided that the testator is present as the will is being signed.
– The will must be signed by two witnesses. These witnesses should be present as the testator or his representative signs the will.
– The testator should appoint a guardian where minor children are involved.
– The testator must provide a formula for sharing the estate.
– The testator must be over 18 years of age.
Allow me not to get into the finer details of who can or cannot act as a witness to a will. I find it worthwhile to mention at this juncture something about revoking a will.
The testator, while alive, has the option to revoke a valid will. This can be done in a number of ways. The most obvious is changing the contents or adding to the contents of the will before passing on. This is possible provided the testator is still mentally capable of doing so. The change here does not imply crossing out details on the original will and scribbling in new ones. The testator has to follow all the legal procedures as was required in the original will. Another option is to write a whole new will. In such a case, every page of the old will has to be signed “revoked”. The revoked will should be kept as such so that nobody later on mistakes it as a lost will. A more interesting method involves tearing up the old will in front of the lawyer and signing the new will. So make sure the will you want to contest is not a revoked will.
Lack of knowledge and approval
The testator must understand the contents of the will and approve them. In case you have doubts about whether the testator really understood the contents of the will, you can go ahead and dispute the will. Be prepared to prove that the testator did not fully comprehend the contents of the will. You can also object the will if you sense that it was prepared under suspicious circumstances. Take for instance a situation where the person who drafted the will has awarded himself a generous share of the estate. It might be that the testator signed without full knowledge of what was contained therein.
youtube
Undue influence
You may rightfully suspect that the testator was unduly influenced when making the will. If you have facts on the exact culprit who wrongly influenced the testator, you can choose to contest the will in court. Note that this is a tricky ground for contesting a will. You must have concrete evidence that such and such a person coerced the testator to distribute his wealth as he did. There should be no other way of explaining why the wealth was distributed in such a manner.
Fraudulent wills and forged wills
Fraud takes many forms. One of the sons of the deceased may prepare a will and forge the signature of the deceased. The contents will almost definitely be in favor of the fraudster. Such a will may be contested if you have concrete evidence of the forgery claims.
Rectification and construction claims
There are instances when the person drafting the will may have made errors. This may be as a result of not grasping the intentions of the testator. If you detect such errors, you may contest the will on the grounds of professional negligence.
In this sense, you may also request the court to reconstruct the will in case the words used therein are ambiguous.
With any of the above-mentioned reasons, you may now move on to the process of contesting the will. I will outline below the three basic steps you should follow. One more thing to put into consideration is the case of no-contest wills.
Steps of contesting a will
You first have to file a petition with the probate court, requesting an official testacy proceeding. You have two options here – you can either request the court to do away with an informal probate which has already been closed or request them to put a halt to a probate that is in process until you air your objections. The petition must include the objections.
After filing the petition, you have to notify all the interested parties that you have filed a petition to reopen or block the probate. You can check more details of all the persons to notify in Title 75 Section 3-403 of the Utah Legislative Code. In a nutshell, the most common persons are the spouse and children of the deceased, followed by close and distant relatives. The aim here is to inform all those persons who would have fallen heir to the estate of the deceased had he died without writing a will, the beneficiaries specified in the will and the administrator of the estate.
In addition to direct contact, the law also requires you to publish a notice in the local newspapers so that your intentions to contest the will may reach anyone with rights to the estate but whose contacts you do not have.
The court will contact you and give you the specific date and time you should appear at the court. Prepare very well beforehand so as to convince the judge that your petition is valid. It is always advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through this process. An experienced attorney has probably handled several such cases and is well equipped to put meaning into your claims. As an individual, you may not have the wording and convincing abilities required to state your case.
youtube
Some clauses in the will also require expert advice. Take for example a testator who specifies in his will that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses should receive nothing at all. This is called the no-contest clause. Some no contest clauses also specify that the beneficiary who files a petition to contest the will and loses will have to pay the attorney’s fees and all the costs for the two sides of the case. How do you go about this? Do you cower and abandon your intention to contest? This is where an attorney comes in.
It is worthwhile to note that the other party will most definitely appear in court with his attorney.
Costs to contest a will
No litigation is cheap. No litigation comes without cost implications. Be ready to spend some generous amounts on legal fees and such. What more, will contest can really drain you financially because of the number and nature of investigations required. They are generally more expensive than other forms of litigation.
Remember that the costs will greatly be determined by the court. The loser(s) of the contest may be required to pay the winner(s) the costs involved in the case.
Do not fall prey to the misconception that the costs will be covered by the estate under contest. This is not true. Be ready to foot the costs from your pocket. You will only get the payback when you win the contest. This general rule has the following two major exceptions:
1. In case the testator or the interested persons are the cause of the contest, the costs will be funded from the estate in case the contest is lost.
2. In case the contest necessitated investigations regarding the will, the costs incurred by the two parties will be covered by those who incurred them.
The worst scenario comes when the costs involved in the contest are higher than the value of the estate. This outrightly means that you lose big. It is therefore in order to really weigh the costs versus returns before setting out to contest.
Remember the contest is not a 1 day thing, nor a 1-week or a 1 month thing. Contests normally run for up to one or one-and-a-half years. You may, therefore, incur thousands of pounds in this process.
Utah statistics have it that only about 5% of cases filed proceed to trial. The other 95% of cases end in mutual agreement by both the parties.
After the hearing of the case, the judge may rule that the will is entirely invalid or partly invalid. In such a case, the property of the deceased is distributed according to the intestacy laws. Generally, the wealth is distributed to the spouse and children. In case they are not there, the court may consider the close relatives, and finally the distant relatives. Succeeding to contest a will is such relief. After the months of hard work, it is only good you get the portion of the estate you deserve.
Will Contest Lawyer Free Consultation
When you need legal help fighting about a will in court, please call Ascent Law LLC (801) 676-5506 for your Free Consultation. We can help you with Probate Law. Will Contests. Estate Planning. And Much More. We want to help you.
Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Ascent Law LLC
4.9 stars – based on 67 reviews
Recent Posts
Crowdfunding Law
Criminal Defense Lawyer Alpine Utah
Tax Deductions For Doctors
Fencing Law
Did Divorce Get Canceled?
Probate Lawyer Draper Utah
from Michael Anderson https://www.ascentlawfirm.com/how-do-i-contest-a-will-in-utah/
0 notes