Contesting wills
A will outlines your wishes for your assets after death. However, your assets may not always be distributed exactly as you’ve requested.
When someone dies, their family can make a claim. This can happen even if there’s a will. Other eligible people can also file a claim.They may also dispute a will if provisions in the will are inadequate. Sometimes the court will make orders to distribute assets to those people who contested.
In New South Wales, a will or estate can be challenged or contested circumstances including:
- Family provisions claims: Family members or eligible persons are entitled to make a claim against an estate in situations where the provisions of the will, or the statutory provisions when a person dies without a will (dies intestate) are inadequate or the person has been left out of the will.
- Testamentary capacity: Beneficiaries can challenge or dispute a will when the person who made the will was not in a sound state of mind when the will was prepared.
- Undue influence or fraud: A beneficiary can challenge or dispute a will they can prove the person who made the will was unduly influenced by one or more of the other beneficiaries of the will, or if the will was a product of fraud. This means the will can be challenged if the person who made it was coerced or tricked into signing it.