Houston, TX Contested Estates Lawyer

Experienced Lawyer for Estate Contests Serving Houston, TX

People make estate plans because they want control over who should receive their property after they are gone. When someone has taken the time to decide who should have their money and belongings, the last thing he or she wants is an estate contest. In estate litigation, there is a concept called the "worst evidence rule." This refers to the fact that the only person who actually knows for sure how a dispute should be resolved is no longer alive and cannot testify or explain his or her intentions.

If you are going through an estate contest, experienced Pasadena, TX estate litigation attorney Vicky Fealy can help. Whether you are an estate administrator fending off a contest raised in bad faith by someone who was not named in the will or trust or a beneficiary who suspects that your loved one's will has been tampered with, The Fealy Law Firm, PC will fight to bring the truth to light and see the decedent's wishes carried out.

Grounds for an Estate Contest in Texas

Most contested estates involve a will rather than a trust. This is because a will in probate is a public document, while a trust document can be kept private so only those named can see it. It is much easier to contest a document you have access to than one you do not. The grounds for contesting a will and trust are largely the same. Common grounds for estate litigation include:

• Undue influence - Undue influence is when one person unfairly manipulated or influenced the decedent during the estate planning process. This is common when the decedent spent a lot of time alone with one individual, and that individual was disproportionately favored in the will or trust.
• Fraud - Outright fraud is rare, but it does happen. Fraud occurs when a will or trust is forged or altered without the decedent's knowledge or agreement. Fraud also applies in situations where the decedent was misled as to what his or her will or trust said.
• Lack of capacity - This type of challenge is common when the decedent was suffering from a severe mental illness or age-related incapacity such as dementia before passing away. A person must have the capacity to understand what the effect of the estate plan will be, what property he or she owns, and who his or her natural heirs would be in order to execute a will or trust.
• Improper execution of a will - There are strict formalities governing how a will can be formalized. If the testator failed to meet one of these black-or-white requirements when he or she made the will, the entire will might be unenforceable.
• Coercion - In rare cases, an estate planner is forced, threatened, or otherwise coerced into signing a will or trust he or she would not have otherwise made. For example, an adult child who is the caregiver of the estate planner might threaten to place his or her elderly parent in an unsafe nursing home unless the parent makes a will leaving him or her the entire estate.

Preventing Estate Contests

Attorney Fealy can help protect your estate plans from potential future contests. She can help you identify possible future contests and prevent the appearance of undue influence, make sure your will is executed according to the proper formalities, and help you express and explain your wishes clearly. She can also help you gather any documentation you could need to prove that you have testamentary capacity. The odds of estate litigation can be drastically reduced when an experienced estate planning lawyer takes the steps necessary to protect your estate plan.

Contact a Pasadena, TX Estate Contests Attorney

The Fealy Law Firm, PC is committed to helping Harris County residents work through an estate contest. Experienced Pasadena, TX estate litigation attorney Vicky Fealy will investigate the grounds for the contest and work to bring the truth to light. Contact us at 713-526-5220 for a complimentary consultation.