After hearing the contents of a will, many family members may want to challenge the document. However, only certain people can contest a will and they can only challenge the document for certain reasons.
According to Policy Genius, people can only challenge a will if they have a vested interest in the contents. These people may be the beneficiaries of either the current will or a previous document. Some people, such as children and spouses, may be eligible to inherit property even if they are not named in the will. They can also contest the document. Most of the time, these people cannot challenge the will simply because they disagree with the contents. They need to demonstrate why the terms may not be valid.
Mental capacity
In order for a will to be valid, the adult who writes it has to be in the proper frame of mind. According to FindLaw, adults who are mentally incapacitated cannot create a legally binding will. This includes adults who have dementia or a mental illness that prevents them from understanding the contents of the document.
People may challenge a will if their deceased loved ones did not understand how much property they possessed. Additionally, they may contest this document if the deceased did not know who their beneficiaries might be.
Date of the will
The executor has to follow the terms laid out in the most recent will. The most recent version of this document should contain the last wishes of the deceased. People may contest a will if they know that the deceased wrote a new one. To demonstrate this, they should look at the dates on both versions of the will so the executor uses the document with the most recent date.
