I have a relative doing executor duties for a friend. This friend died in his 70’s, last Summer, fairly unexpectedly.

He was never married, no kids, one brother, not close to him. It’s been a handful, 2 homes, 2 camps, property, various possessions.

The relative is the sole executive for the estate, long term friends. Even though it’s a handful, it’s been going ok.

The issue now, another acquaintance of the deceased plans to contest the will. The reason being, there are 2 later versions of the will that were never signed. One is 2019, the other early 2024. The ‘official will’ that was signed, witnessed & the rest was dated a couple of years before 2019.

The person contesting doesn’t like the unsigned 2019 version, he likes the early 2024 version. The 2024 version was presented to the now deceased while on his hospital bed. There are 2 that will testify that he said he didn’t want to sign it.

On top of this, the one contesting is asking the estate to pay his legal expenses, a non-starter.

I think a lot of the ploy is to use the legalese to strike a bargain. It’s not chump change, but where talking swings of $100k or so to a few in a position to gain, others maybe lose.

With a net search, an unsigned Will is almost useless, especially with a valid one a few years prior. The relative will get a versed attorney, no problem there.

Not sure if clear or not, just asking for a friend.

The executor needs to engage his own Estate savvy attorney to represent the Estate.

If he is already processing the estate's assets, then hasn’t the will already been approved by a probate judge? Currently closing out my mom's estate and we had to have the probate judge approve the will before we could do anything. We used a lawyer to handle that part who was then appointed by the court to oversee the execution of the estate. We are doing the work, the lawyer will just certify it was done correctly to the court.

From the little I have learned, wouldn’t the probate court had to certify one of the unsigned wills in place of the signed one.

Your State law will govern how things proceed. Your friend should have already engaged an estate attorney to represent the estate, and, perhaps, another to represent his own interests. He is probably in for a fight. I have seen dissension split families, and lead to bad feelings that last for years.

Generally, the probate judge will determine which will is valid after hearing arguments from all sides, and examining the documents themselves. A signature is not proof of the deceased's intentions in and of itself.

My experience comes from having acted as an executor of a very complex and contested handwritten will of my sister's. In that case, there was little dissension about the validity of the document, but its interpretation. The fact that inheritor's expectations were unrealistic didn't help. Also that there were many people named in the will, but not receiving specific bequests.

I would urge anyone who wishes their work of a lifetime be distributed in the way they want, to wrap up their final wishes in a document prepared by a trust/estate attorney in their State well before it might be needed. Don't wait until you get sick, you will have far more important things on your mind.

Yes, the executor has already been approved, has the domicile certificate & the rest to proceed. At this point, the estate is about 1/2 liquidated.

This later contesting is more about 100+ firearms & some things that haven’t come into play yet. I think part is to try to pressure a settlement before getting to a trial. As you can imagine, if this person were to prevail, others will lose.

So far this is in the incipient phase, not even in front of a judge yet. Yes there is an attorney for the estate, but soon to be a new attorney to represent the executor. The executor said until told otherwise, he has proper authority to proceed.

Another angle, the one contesting also wants to be added as an executor, then there is 2. If that was the case, now they have to agree to proceed.

BTW, my relative is a very straight arrow, always trying to do the best according to the deceased wishes.

I understand attorneys in the field versed in WI law have the best answers. I just thought I’d throw it out here also. I’m not really involved, just done some minor help with moving things.

My take is that your relative should hire an attorney and put up a steel wall of resistance immediately. Make the other person realize from the get-go that they will have to pay for their own attorney, and it is going to be a fight.

From my basic experience and knowledge (not an attorney), the signed will is going to be extremely difficult to get voided. I expect any attorney the contestor talks to will tell him that it is going to be expensive while having a very low chance of success.

I am not inclined to reward assholes who try to strong arm a settlement which they have no right to in the first place.

Yes, the attorney part is being done, to represent the executor. Since it’s early, I have little to pass on.

Often things end up with the spouse having control. This case, never married, no kids, less defined. Yes, the deceased could have tied up loose ends better, he likely didn’t know the end was coming.

quote:

From my basic experience and knowledge (not an attorney), the signed will is going to be extremely difficult to get voided.

I can tell you that I contested a will back in the 90's. The newest will was signed within 24 hours of death, in a hospital, by a party who was on morphine to control pain. The largest beneficiary in the newest will was somebody who was getting limited assets in the previous will, and where a video existed with the deceased party explaining exactly why that was the case.

I lost. I'd say "extremely difficult" may even be an understatement.

Yes, this contested element just reared its head midway through the process. I think part of the deal is the person pushing it is trying to get the executor to make a settlement with him of sorts, which would be contrary to the signed will. Also, if that were to happen, others would get less, or nothing.

The executor will be having none of it, hence an attorney to represent validity of the signed will. Once the person contesting has to start dipping in his own pocket for $5k, he may change his mind. Mind you, that’s $5k, then more, for something unlikely to prevail.

real life vultures exist. That's the sad part. I bet if that friend knew how his bequest was going to make things ugly, it would have been better for him to waste it all on hookers and blow.

I have not read all the response's and sure some are very good.
I am not council, but on the surface. Mess' like this usually result in the attorneys getting most of what might be had because the person who died made this mess happen by not doing some simple things while he was still a live. I hope that is not the case. But most likely will be.

If I understand correctly, the court has already certified the will and green-lit the executor to proceed distributing and liquidation the estate.

If that is so, the executor has no authority to deviate from the will unless a court orders it. The executor should tell this person to pound sand unless they have a court order. Iow, make it clear that the contestor will have to hire an attorney and file court papers to even begin any process which may eventually lead to a change.

Meanwhile, the executor should continue without delay to distribute the estate. Anything distributed becomes that much more difficult to get redirected to this person.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
If I understand correctly, the court has already certified the will and green-lit the executor to proceed distributing and liquidation the estate.
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This is all correct, yes the executor is proceeding until told otherwise by court or a judge. He’s also trying to be civil instead of telling the guy contesting to get bent, or worse.

I don’t think it’s a serious challenge under the circumstances, and then the guy contesting hinting about the estate paying his legal fees. The idea of that being ridicules.

There are a few payouts, when all is liquidated, and also over 100 firearms being held for now. I think those two areas are the main points with contesting. I saw the firearms list, a fair number in the $250-$500 ballpark, then some high end guns. Instead of spreading the wealth so to speak, they are destined for one or 2 guys.

I have zero positions in the whole affair. I just see the time & stress of the relative dealing with it. Yes, the deceased could have made things easier, as is often the case. I think he had friends around him then cultivated a relationship where they helped with the expectation to get a little something in the future. I know some of that went on, but they didn’t end up in the will.

quote:

Originally posted by Sailor1911:
The executor needs to engage his own Estate savvy attorney to represent the Estate.

Yes. The Estate needs to hire a lawyer. Find someone who handles contested probate litigation. Not all lawyers who handle simple wills and uncontested matters want to handle contested matters.

The executor probably needs his own lawyer, too.

Assuming that all is as it seems to be, there should be little trouble, but get someone to shut this down.

It’s times like this when than section that says words to the effect of, “Any person who contests this will (or trust) loses all rights to any proceeds and is stricken from the will.” really starts to look good. “Okay junior, the will says you’re only getting $15,000.00. I understand that’s a bummer, but if you read the whole thing you’ll see that it says anyone who contests it gets nothing. Would you rather sit down, hush up, and be grateful for the 15k, or would you rather get nothing?”