If a family member or close friend recently passed away, you are probably still going through the grieving process that follows a death. The last thing you may wish to think about is the legal status of the decedent’s estate assets. The law, however, requires those assets to be addressed quickly and efficiently during the legal process known as probate. During probate, someone may decide to challenge the validity of a Last Will and Testament submitted for probate. Knowing what to expect if that happens will be helpful. Toward that end, the Long Island attorneys at Eghrari Law Firm explain what to expect during a New York Will contest.
What Happens to a Will after the Death of the Testator?
A Last Will and Testament is a legal document that allows the Testator (the person creating the document) to decide what happens to his/her assets upon the death of the Testator. When the Testator passes away, anyone in possession of an original Will should submit that Will to the appropriate Surrogate Court (the court that typically handles probate in New York). One of the many objectives of probate is to authenticate a decedent’s Will. Consequently, any “interested” person may contest the validity of the Will submitted for probate. An “interested” person may be a beneficiary under the Will submitted for probate, a beneficiary under a previous Will, a legal heir to the estate, or even a creditor of the estate. The contestant must allege legal grounds that could be used to declare the Will invalid. In New York, legal grounds on which a Will could be successfully challenged include alleging that the Will was not properly executed, was the product of undue influence, or that the Testator (person who signed the Will) lacked the requisite testamentary capacity needed to execute a Will.
What Happens during a Will Contest in New York?
Even if you are not the person challenging a Will, you may have a vested interest in the outcome of the Will contest if you are a beneficiary under the terms of the Will submitted to the court, a legal heir according to the New York intestate succession rules, a creditor of the estate, or even a beneficiary in a previously executed Will. You also need to know what to expect if you were named as the Executor of the estate in the Will.
There are often two disputes going on during a Will contest. The first is the legal challenge alleging that the Will is invalid while the second is a family dispute. Although a contestant must allege legal grounds when challenging a Will, there is typically an underlying emotional motive for the challenge. An adult child may feel anger, resentment, or abandonment after learning the terms of the Will. If that contestant is your sibling, aunt/uncle, parent, or another family member, you should prepare yourself for long buried (or long-standing) family conflict to bubble to the surface. Navigating the family conflict that frequently accompanies a Will contest is often much harder than dealing with the legal dispute filed in court.
The second dispute focuses on the validity of the Will submitted for probate. Once a Will contest has been initiated, it proceeds in much the same way as any other civil litigation. The Executor of the estate is responsible for defending the Will submitted for probate. Usually, an experienced New York probate attorney is retained to litigate the challenge. Through the discovery process, evidence from both sides of the dispute will be shared and there may be an attempt at reaching a compromise in the form of a Settlement Agreement. If an agreement cannot be reached, the issue must be settled at trial.
If the contestant is successful, the Will submitted for probate is declared invalid. At that point, the judge will look to see if another valid Will exists. If there is another Will, the terms of that Will are used to determine what happens to the estate assets. If no valid Will is located, the New York intestate succession rules are used to distribute estate assets. If the contestant is unsuccessful, the court declares the Will submitted for probate to be valid and those terms are used to guide the administration of the estate.
Do You Have Questions about a New York Will Contest?
For more information, please join us for a FREE estate planning seminar. If you have additional questions about a New York Will contest, contact the Long Island probate attorneys at Eghrari Law Firm by calling us at 631-265-0599 to schedule your appointment.
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