Handling Legal Challenges to an Estate Plan or Trust
No matter how airtight an estate planning document is intended to be, legal disputes may still arise. It's a strange legal fiction: in such will and trust contests, a beneficiary or proposed beneficiary sues the document itself. The case will often be called something like John Doe v. the Estate of Jane Doe. Of course, the will or trust must be represented by a person, so the personal representative of the will — or the trustee of the estate — will be responsible for the litigation on behalf of the document.
Litigation Support for Will and Trust Contests in Northern Virginia
The AV-rated* law firm of Hale Carlson Baumgartner, PLC, has experienced trial lawyers, led by Kimberley A. Murphy, to represent either side in a will or trust contest. Located in Fairfax County offices, our team of attorneys includes both knowledgeable estate and trusts attorneys and skillful trial lawyers, which makes our estate litigation team a formidable opponent in will and trust contests.
We represent beneficiaries, intended beneficiaries, executors, settlors and trustees in all types of will and trust contests. The most common types of legal claims we handle and defend include:
- Challenges to proper execution of the document
- Challenges claiming lack of capacity on the part of the maker
- Claims that the maker was under the undue influence of another when the document was executed, and is thus invalid either in part or in whole
- Heir contests between named beneficiaries regarding specific bequests
- Resolution of conflicts between various versions of a will
- Resolving the estate of a person who dies intestate (without a will)
- Disputes over the surviving spouse's statutory share of the estate, in cases where the spouse has been disinherited
- Claims of fiduciary misconduct on the part of an executor or trustee
- Claims involving spousal elections including a claim for elective share under Virginia's Augmented Estate Act
Contact Hale Carlson Baumgartner
If you have questions about your rights with regard to a will or trust contest, contact our office to schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our lawyers. Call 703-763-0374 or use our online contact form.
* CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories - legal ability and general ethical standards.
