Contesting a Will in Alabama
In the state of Alabama, there are guidelines in place to ensure a will is created legally. Following these guidelines is what makes the document valid. The individual who writes the will is required to be of sound mind and body in order to write the document. Two witnesses that can attest to the individual’s mental capacities must also be present for the signing. The witnesses must confirm they saw the will be signed and may be required to sign it themselves.
What Happens When Someone Contests a Will or Trust?
Someone might challenge a will if they feel like they have been shortchanged or if they are left out of the will altogether. But it is not easy for them to win a will contest, because the burden of proof is on them to show that there is a reason for the court to rule that the document is invalid.
The court will not overturn a will simply because a sibling feels left out or says that the deceased made a verbal commitment to them that was not in the document. The court will only look at what is provable, and the contender will have to produce convincing evidence that the will (or parts of it) should be overturned.
Here are some of the most common legal reasons that someone might use to contest a will:
- Legal Technicalities: For example, Alabama requires that, in most instances, a will must be typed and witnessed by at least two individuals who do not have an interest in it. If the signature does not look like your deceased parent’s signature and/or the document was not signed by two outside witnesses, then the validity of the will might be called into question.
- Undue Influence: One common example is when a caretaker (who could be one of the children or an outside health provider) inherits all of the decedent’s estate or a much larger portion than the other heirs. If there is proof that the decedent was unduly influenced, then the will could be tossed out.
- Mental Incapacity: For a will to be valid, the testator (the person making and signing the will) must have testamentary capacity (aka mental capacity). This does not mean that the testator has to be totally acute mentally, but they must know and understand the basics, such as who they are, who the heirs and beneficiaries are, and the assets and property that they possess. Even an individual who was in the very early stages of dementia could possess the testamentary capacity to execute a will.
- Fraud: For example, a parent could be told that they were signing some other type of document when it was actually a will. This would be an example of will fraud.
If a sibling contests a will and they are able to show the court that there are legal problems with the document, a court could declare the entire will invalid and throw it out.
If the court decides to toss out the entire will and there is an earlier will that is valid, then this will could be used in its place. If there was no previous will, then the parent’s assets could be distributed by the probate court in accordance with Alabama’s intestate succession laws.
What Happens When Someone Contests a Trust?
Although not as common as a will contest, siblings might legally challenge a trust for the same reasons that they would contest a will. Revocable living trusts are typically used as will substitutes, so the courts are likely to apply will contest standards when a revocable trust is contested. The most common grounds for such a contest again are undue influence, mental incapacity, fraud, and legal technicalities.
If a trust contest is successful and the document is declared invalid, then the assets within the trust would be distributed based on the parent’s previous estate planning documents (assuming they are valid). If there are no previous estate planning documents to draw from, then the assets would again be distributed based on intestate succession laws.
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