Grounds for contesting a will
The categories of challenge that generally exist, what each one is really about, and why disagreeing with the outcome is not one of them.
A will is not challenged because it is unfair. It is challenged because something was wrong with how it came about or how it was made. The categories below are the ones that generally exist across US jurisdictions, though the precise test and who may bring a claim differ by state.
This is general information rather than legal advice, and it is not a checklist for assessing your own situation.
Undue influence
The argument that someone applied pressure to the person making the will such that the document reflects that person's wishes rather than the will-maker's own.
It is rarely about a single dramatic event. It is usually about a pattern: isolation from family, a new person controlling access and communication, sudden changes late in life, and a beneficiary who arranged the lawyer. Because it is a pattern, evidence tends to be circumstantial and drawn from many sources.
Lack of testamentary capacity
The argument that the person did not have the mental capacity required to make a will at the time they made it.
Capacity is assessed at the moment of signing rather than generally, which is why someone with a diagnosis of dementia may still have made a valid will, and why medical records around the signing date matter so much. This is the ground most likely to require expert medical evidence, and therefore the most expensive to run.
Improper execution
The argument that the document was not signed and witnessed in the way the law requires. Formalities differ by state and cover things like the number of witnesses and whether they may be beneficiaries.
This is the most technical ground and often the most clear-cut: either the formalities were met or they were not. It is also the ground most likely to be resolved without a trial once the facts are established.
Fraud and forgery
Fraud covers a document procured by deception, including a will-maker being misled about what they were signing. Forgery is the narrower allegation that a signature is not genuine.
Both are serious allegations with correspondingly demanding evidential requirements, and forgery in particular usually turns on expert handwriting analysis.
Revocation and later documents
The argument that the will being administered is not the operative one, because it was revoked or because a later valid document exists.
These disputes frequently turn on where documents were kept and who had access to them.
What is not a ground
This distinction matters, because it is where most enquiries begin and end. Whether the facts of a particular situation fall into one of the categories above is a question for a lawyer admitted in the relevant state.
- That the distribution is unfair, or unequal between children.
- That the will-maker changed their mind about you.
- That you cared for them and someone else received more.
- That you were promised something verbally, though that may raise separate claims outside a will contest.