[toc76]

HI Everyone


A bit of a legal question. What chance does a person have to challenge a will if they have had no contact with the deceased person for 25 years. Have relatives who are planning on contesting will who are saying that they had had contact with the deceased person and they had told them they were in the will. its fairly common knowledge the person has in fact had no contact.


Is the onus on the person challenging to prove the contact?



Am getting legal advice on Monday but stressing a bit until then



thanks

[JECJEC]

what state? what relationship to the deceased.

[toc76]

Victoria and its his daughter

[elizabethany]

This is not legal advice, but I have known a family where the son was in a similar situation, and the will specifically mentioned him as being intentionally excluded. He failed in contesting it, but it cost a good portion of the estate to defend it. It was really up in the air the whole time, with no firm "it will go this way" from the lawyers.

[toc76]

thanks. my worry is that they will fight it until there is nothing left.

[bakesgirls]

I imagine they would still have a case being the deceased child, but in saying that there are never any guarantees. It would probably be easier and more cost effective to include the deceased daughter in the will than to fight it though.

I know a family where a child contested their parents will. They were awarded a portion of the estate (they had been excluded previously), but the majority of it had already been eaten into with legal costs. There was next to nothing left when it was settled.

[toc76]

my fear. have wondered if better to offer them money from the estate to settle it and make it go away.

[*Spikey*]

I guess the question you need to answer is whether you think it was 'fair' for that child to be excluded.

Sure, if they've done something totally heinous to their parents, but if not? Why are they being penalised?

If they've already had a lot of financial support or gifts of property from their parents, then the courts might regard the exclusion as 'evening up' the benefit compared to other beneficiaries (which is what happened in the Wentworth Case).

I would seek legal advice from a lawyer who specialises in Wills and Probate - keeping in mind that there needs to be a very good reason to exclude one child from the Will.

[Peppery]

Sadly I have seen this first hand, the deceased person specifically detailed why the child was left a smaller portion but they still ended up receiving a larger portion. A lot of the estate was chewed up in legal fees.

[toc76]

child chose not to have contact with parent after divorce. have had no contact in at least 36 years. now claiming they have had contact but parent made no mention of this to anyone including her other children, sisters, brother, parent or best friend.