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Can I contest my father's Will?
Anonymous3 views2 answers
My father died from cancer on his brain and lungs last Oct. He wasn't expected to make it back in 2007 and he had a female friend living with him at that time. She convinced him to put his entire estate in her name and then moved back with her husband in 2008 when my father didn't die. She would never show us the will after he passed, so I went to probate court in Jan. 2011 and was appointed personal rep. for my father's estate. I had my father car put in my brother's name. In March 2011 the female friend went to probate court and filed the will she had, the probate court called me and told me that my appointment as personal rep was revoked and to send them the papers back I was given. Now she suing my siblings and I for the title to my father's car so she can give it to her husband.
I imagine that when you were appointed personal representative for your father's estate, it was because you were seeking to administer his estate in intestacy and that his "friend" then stepped forward to file a will.
If properly and timely accomplished, you can contest the will. In most states, however, in order to do so, you would have to show a lack of testamentary capacity, coercion, duress, or undue influence, or that the will propounded for probate is not genuine (i.e., forgery). This is not an easy task and you would have to have evidence to support your challenge to the will.
While it certainly sounds as though your father's married paramour was not acting in the highest tradition of altruistic behavior, the unfairness that may result from the probate of that will is not a factor that the court will look to. The question comes down to whether your father was capable of signing a will and, if so, whether he did it of his own free will.
You should consult with a local attorney immediately in order to preserve your rights and to determine the efficacy of a will contest under the circumstances.
Good luck to you.
Mr Haber offers sound advice. However, if this turnover occurred in March you are responding late here and may have a statute of limitations problem as well as a high burden of proof. You need to immediately get with an estates litigation attorney since you may be running out of time to challange her. Do this TODAY!
Hope this helps. Mr. Fromm is licensed to practice law throughout the state of PA with offices in Philadelphia and Montgomery counties. He is authorized to handle IRS matters throughout the United States. His phone number is 215-735-2336 or his email address is [email protected] . For further tax advice visit his website at www.sjfpc.com . and blog at >
