Contested Wills in Naperville, Illinois

Find the right Contested Wills attorney in Naperville, IL

In Naperville, Illinois there are specific procedures authorizing certain people to challenge the validity of a will. This is identified as a "will contest" or "contested will."

Occasionally, when a person who expected to be included in a will is left out, their natural assumption is that there was some mistake, or that the will was made through improper means, such as duress or fraud, or that the will is an outright forgery.

If a considerable amount of money is involved, someone who was left out of a will, or not given what they were expecting, might believe that contesting the will is worth the time, money, and energy that doing so would require.

You should remember that a will contest frequently results in adversarial legal proceedings, which can be very combative. Considering the likelihood that other members of your family might be on the other side, it's clear that this can really damage a person's relationship with his or her family.

When Can a Will be Contested in Naperville, Illinois?

There are various reasons that a court in Naperville, Illinois might invalidate a will.

For instance, a will obtained through duress (a threat of harm, typically physical) is invalid. Of course, duress is very difficult to prove after the fact, and the issue may not even come up until many years after it allegedly occurred, making proof even more difficult. Nonetheless, if the named beneficiary was in some type of position of power or trust with respect to the decedent, and is not someone who one would normally expect to get a large gift in a will (they're unrelated to the testator, for example), those facts alone might be enough to raise the suspicion of impropriety. Of course, those facts by themselves are not enough to prove duress.

Another thing to consider is the mental capacity of the person making the will. If, at the time the will was made, the testator was insane or heavily intoxicated, the will is likely to be held invalid by a court, if the underlying facts can be shown.

So, you've succeeded in contesting the validity of a Naperville, Illinois will. What happens to the property that was going to be distributed according to its terms? Usually, when a will is declared void, the decedent's assets will be treated as if he or she had died without a will. This is known as "intestacy." Typically, this simply means that the assets will be passed on to their owner's closest living relative, normally a spouse, children, siblings, or parents. If absolutely no relatives can be found, the property is passed to the state. If there is a previous will, which was revoked by the invalid will, a court might revive the old will. If the new will was found to be completely invalid (rather than just parts of it), it follows, then, that the revocation of the old will is invalid as well. Consequently, the old will can be given effect.

Can a Naperville, Illinois Contested Will Attorney Help?

Because this can involve complicated legal issues, and be very emotionally draining, this is not something you want to go at alone. A reliable lawyer in Naperville, Illinois can be very helpful in making sure that this process goes as smoothly as possible.

Talk to a Wills, Trusts & Estates Law Attorney now!

Life in Naperville

Naperville, Illinois is a city in DuPage and Will Counties. It has a population of 140,000 people.

In 2006, Money Magazine

named Naperville, Illinois the second best place to live in the United States.

Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. Throughout most of its history, Naperville was a rural agricultural community. However, it began to experience a population boom in the 1960s, whichaccelerated in the 80s and 90s, with the construction of a major tollway into the Naperville, Illinois area.

Modernly, Naperville is in the heart of the Illinois Tech and Research Corridor, an area in which a large number of technology companies do business. It is sometimes called the Silicon Valley of the Midwest. Many of these companies, including BP, Nicor, and Nalco, employ large number of engineers, as well as administrative personnel. Many Naperville, Illinois lawyers are employed by these companies.

If you live in Naperville, Illinois and are in need of legal services, there are a large number of Naperville, Illinois attorneys who can help. A Naperville, Illinois lawyer will be able to advise you of your legal rights, and your chances of succeeding in your legal dispute.

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