Contested Wills in Beaverton, Oregon

Find the right Contested Wills attorney in Beaverton, OR

Sometimes, family members of a recently-deceased person in Beaverton, Oregon will attempt to claim that a will is invalid, normally because it leaves them out of it. This process 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 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.

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 Beaverton, Oregon?

There are various reasons that a Beaverton, Oregon court might hold a will to be invalid.

One big reason to invalidate a will is the fact that the will was made under duress. "Duress" simply means forcing somebody to do something they don't want to, using some kind of threat. Normally, the threat involves some type of physical harm. The most obvious example would involve putting a gun to somebody's head and telling them to write a will containing the terms desired by the gunman. Such a will, assuming the underlying facts can be proven in court, will never be valid. Of course, the validity of a will rarely becomes an issue until the testator has died, which may be years after the will was drafted. This means that proving the circumstances under which the will was made can often be very difficult. However, there are certain facts, such as the devise being to an "unnatural" beneficiary (somebody the testator didn't know very well, for instance), and the beneficiary being in a position of power over the decedent, are enough to at least create a suspicion that something is wrong.

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.

There are many other facts that might make a will invalid, and therefore serve as grounds to contest a will. If a will is effectively contested in Beaverton, Oregon, and held to be invalid, this normally results in the property being distributed as if the decedent had died intestate (without a will). This means that it will usually go to the decedent's closest living relative.

Can a Beaverton, Oregon Contested Will Attorney Help?

Contesting a will is often hard, and never fun. However, the entire process can be made more bearable if you have the help of a reliable Beaverton, Oregon attorney, and the process will probably be much more manageable.

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

Life in Beaverton

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon. It is near Portland. In 2010, Money Magazine listed it as one of the "100 Best Places to Live" amongst the smaller cities in the United States.

Top employers include Reser's Fine Foods, Leupold Stevens, Nike, Inc., Phoenix Technologies, Linux Technology Center (IBM), Tektronix, Maxim Integrated Products, VeriWave, and Intel. The legal force also has a strong presence in Beaverton because many attorneys practice and reside here. These attorneys work in small firms or law offices and focus on providing their clients with excellent legal services.

Other reasons for recognition include the fact that in 2006, Beaverton's very own Murrayhill Little League baseball team was qualified for the 2006 Little League World Series. Also, in 2002, the city's little league softball team won second place in the Little League Softball World Series. Beaverton is also known to have one of the largest fencing clubs in the nation--Northwest Fencing Center.

Overall, Beaverton is an exciting place to live in or visit!

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