How To Contest a Will in California

The time after a loved one dies can be extremely stressful, particularly for the people closest to them. You’re grieving for a beloved family member or friend and dealing with the complexities of making sure their final wishes are respected. In some cases, that requires contesting a will. Find out how to contest a will in California below.

Hire a Will Lawyer

The first step in contesting a will is to hire a will lawyer. California laws can be complex, so this is not an activity you want to try to tackle on your own. Hiring a will attorney doesn’t just give you access to a skilled professional with experience in the field. You’ll also be able to trust your attorney to deal with all the details of your case so you can focus on other, more important things, such as grieving for your loved one who has passed.

A lawyer can also help you determine whether you have valid grounds for contesting the will. Common reasons include:

• Fraud
• Undue influence
• Lack of testamentary capacity
• Improper execution
• The presence of a newer will

Further Action in Contesting a Will

After hiring a will lawyer, you will want to follow several key steps to contest the will. These include:

• File a petition to contest the will. You’ll need to let the probate court know that you plan to contest the will. A good time to do this is directly after the initial probate hearing, but California allows certain parties to contest a will up to 120 days after it is admitted into probate.
• State your objections. Next, you’ll need to attend an initial hearing to state your objections to the will. You’ll be given time following the hearing to file a will contest complaint, which your attorney can help you with.
• Consider mediation. Mediation offers you an alternative to going to court, which can be expensive and exhausting. In many cases, the court requires the involved parties to attempt to mediate the will, so you should make every effort to settle the case amicably.
• Go to court. It may become necessary to go to court, in which case the burden of proving the will’s invalidity rests on the person contesting it. Winning a will case in court is unlikely because evidence is often hard to come by.
• Wait for a decision. If you go to court, your case will be heard by a judge in the county court. They will have 90 days following the conclusion of the trial to issue their decision, so the only thing left to do is to sit back and wait.

Parties Who Can Contest a Will in California

Before contacting a lawyer and beginning the process of contesting the will, you should determine whether you have the legal grounds to do so, to begin with. There are only two groups of people who can contest a will in the Golden State:

• Beneficiaries. If beneficiaries were named in previous wills but were not in the most recent one, they are legally allowed to contest the current will if they have grounds to do so.
• Heirs. Family members expected to inherit under the will can contest it. Heirs often include spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings, and other family members.
• Creditors. If the decedent owed money to banks or lenders, those creditors are allowed to contest the will.

Contested Wills by the Numbers

In 2022, 147,957 people died in California. Only around 24% of Americans die with a valid will in place. If we apply that statistic to California, we can assume that roughly 35,510 people died with valid wills in place. Around 3% of wills in the United States get contested. That means around 1,065 people contest wills in California each year. If you’re convinced that your loved one’s will does not represent their true intentions, you could become one of them.

FAQs

Q: What Are the Grounds for Contesting a Will in California?

A: The grounds for contesting a will in California include fraud, undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, improper execution, and the presence of a newer will. If you are convinced that your deceased loved one’s wishes are not being followed by executing the will as it’s entered probate, you should hire a lawyer to help.

Q: How Much Does It Cost to Contest a Will in California?

A: The cost to contest a will in California varies based on factors such as the case’s complexity, its duration, and whether you need to call expert witnesses to support your claims. Recall also that in addition to attorney fees, you will have to pay all costs associated with court filings, depositions, mediation, and other expenses.

Q: What Is the Success Rate of Contesting a Will in California?

A: The success rate of contesting a will in California is quite low. If you want to contest a will successfully, it’s crucial that you have an experienced attorney on your side who can help. Factors influencing the success or failure of your claim can include your grounds for contesting the divorce, what kinds of evidence you have, and how skilled your attorney is.

Q: Is it Worth it to Contest a Will?

A: Whether it’s worth it to contest a will depends on factors such as your grounds for contesting it and what you must gain by doing so. While the success rate for contesting wills in California is low, you have a chance of succeeding. If you do nothing, there’s no chance that you will be able to have the will changed to better reflect your loved one’s true wishes.

Your California Will Lawyer

You should now have an idea of how to contest a will in California. If you want to contest a will, you need an experienced lawyer on your side. The team here at Ross Law Group, APC, has been practicing estate law for years. We have taken on a wide variety of will cases, from the simple to the extremely complex, and have a track record of representing clients contesting wills with great success.

Contact us today to find out how our team can put their knowledge and experience to work for you.