Contested Wills in Burlington, North Carolina

Find the right Contested Wills attorney in Burlington, NC

It is permitted, in Burlington, North Carolina, to go to court and claim that a will is invalid, in some cases. This is called a Will Contest.

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 massive amount of money or property is being given away, the person left out of the will could rationally conclude that the cost and time of a court challenge is worth it.

As with the initiation of any other legal proceeding, contesting a will is a big decision. It can be time-consuming and costlye. It also has the possibility to damage family relationships and foster strife among individuals who are already mourning the loss of a loved one.

When Can a Will be Contested in Burlington, North Carolina?

There are many reasons that a court in Burlington, North Carolina might invalidate a will.

For instance, a will obtained through duress (a threat of harm, normally 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 Burlington, North Carolina will. What happens to the property that was going to be distributed according to its terms? Typically, 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." Normally, this simply means that the assets will be passed on to their owner's closest living relative, usually 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. Thus, the old will can be given effect.

Can a Burlington, North Carolina Contested Will Attorney Help?

Because a will contest can sometimes involve perplexing legal and factual questions, as well as some very raw emotions, a skilled Burlington, North Carolina attorney can be invaluable in helping this process go as smoothly as possible.

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

Life in Burlington

Burlington, North Carolina is a city in Alamance County. It has a population of more than 50,000 people.

Burlington, North Carolina is known for being the site of the War of The Regulation, which was a revolt against the colonial British government, and predates the American Revolutionary War. Although it was unsuccessful, it may have been a catalyst that helped kick off the wider revolution.

Modernly, Burlington, North Carolina is a thriving, business-friendly community. It hosts the headquarters of LabCorp, one of the largest clinical lab companies in the world, and one of the early pioneers of genetic testing. Burlington is served by a fairly extensive rail network, connecting it to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, among several other major cities on the East Coast.

The city's daily newspaper is also one of the area's major media outlets.

According to census data, Burlington is an ethnically-diverse community, with significant Hispanic and Asian-American communities.

Given the wide variety of businesses, and relatively large number of residents, in Burlington, North Carolina, it's not surprising that Burlington, North Carolina lawyers typically find their services in demand. Because of the variety of cases they're likely to face, they must be prepared to handle many different types of legal issues, so chances are that there's a Burlington, North Carolina lawyer who can handle your case.

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