QUESTION
Do I have a chance of successfully contesting a will as the beloved daughter and primary caregiver of the deceased?
Asked on Mar 05th, 2021 on Estate Planning - Illinois
More details to this question:
Mother passed on 2/28/21. at age 89. Her health had been declining for 10 years. I had a good personal relationship with her and had been taking care of her and her dog for the past 5-10 yrs. This included driving 50 miles round trip every weekend to visit and provide home maintenance and other help, taking off work to take her to doctor visits, driving her from Chicago to a winter home in FL multiple times, assisting her on trips to Africa and other places, all the while not knowing I had been written out her will in 2004 and 2016. Her death was somewhat sudden, possibly precipitated by a hasty medical decision made by a brother who had medical POA. Estate worth somewhere between 1.5 and 3M goes entirely to my 2 surviving brothers. Can U help?
1 ANSWER
2 Awards
There are normally three grounds for contesting a Will: fraud (such as forgery), lack of legal capacity to make a Will, and undue influence. Your description indicates none of these. Rather, it indicates that writing you out of the Will was for a long time a part of your mother's estate plan. Whether you can recover something from the estate for your expenses and your services is another matter. Please contact a probate attorney who handles fiduciary litigation in the county in which your mother's Will will be probated, bringing all receipts and records of what you spent and the services you provided. Keep in mind that your mother's decision may have been based not on a lack of regard for you but on a concern that your brothers would need the money.
Answered on Mar 06th, 2021 at 7:02 AM
This is general information. It cannot substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney. It is not intended to be legal advice or imply an attorney-client relationship.