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Will Contest

What is a Will Contest?

A Will Contest is a type of estate litigation in which one or more interested parties challenge the validity of a will or some provision thereof. When someone does in Florida, the Personal Representative of that estate has 10 days to lodge the originally executed Will with the Court in the county where the decedent resided.

How long do I have to file a Will Contest?

A Will Contest isn’t a separate lawsuit, but an adversary proceeding within the probate case. Once probate is initiated and a Will is admitted to probate, there are strict deadlines to contest the validity of the Will. If a Notice of Administration is served upon you, you only have 90 days to contest the Will. If you receive the Petition for Administration and you are served through “formal notice,” you only have 20 days, Thus, time is of the essence. While there are exceptions to these tight timelines, such as when no Will has been filed or when the probate action has been concealed from an interested party, most beneficiaries and others will be precluded from filing a will contest if the deadline passes.

One way to commence a Will Contest it to file a petition to revoke probate. If the decedent’s Will has not been admitted to probate, then we would need to file an Objection to the Petition for Administration.

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What are the legal grounds to revoke a Will?

In order to revoke a Will in the state of Florida, you need to prove one of the following legal theories:
1. Undue Influence.
2. Lack of Mental Capacity.
3. Not properly executed.
4. Coercion

What do I get if I win the Will Contest?

If the Will is deemed invalid by the Court as a result of a Will Contest, if the decedent had a prior valid Will, the provisions in the prior valid Will controls. If the person did not have a prior valid Will, then the estate will be distributed as if the testator has died without a Will.

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