What if someone objects to or contests the will?

If someone files an objection to the Will or produces another Will, what is known as a “Will contest” has begun. While Will contests are not that rare, and while few people actually win one, they can be extraordinarily costly and create incredible delays.

It’s also important to know that the requirements for contesting a will require a person to have “standing” to mount a contest.  Even though you feel your next-door neighbor’s children ignored her and treated her badly, that does not give you the right to contest her will.  If a person has proper standing to contest a will (ex: a child who was cut out of the will by an angry parent, or even by a kindly parent who felt that the local charity, not his children, should get his assets) that person would have standing to bring a “will contest”. If a will gives one sibling 2/3rds of a parent’s estate and the other 1/3rd, the one receiving less has standing to bring a will contest. Similarly, if a later will is less favorable to someone than an earlier will, or no will at all, that person has standing. A will contest sometimes is launched to have a different person, bank or trust company serve as Personal Representative for the estate, or as a trustee of Trusts created by the will.