Contested Wills in West Covina, California

Find the right Contested Wills attorney in West Covina, CA

In West Covina, California, there is a process through which a person can challenge the validity of a will. This is recognized as a "contested will" or "will contest."

There are numerous reasons why a person might want to contest a will made by a close family member. Sometimes, people will decide to leave money or property to charity, or to other entities who are not closely related. If their family members weren't expecting this, they might assume that something went wrong with the drafting of the will.

If a lot of money, or some specifically valuable property, is at stake, the person who was left out might want to go to court and allege that the will was invalid. When left out of a will, a family member might naturally assume that some kind of mistake has been made, whether this is really true or not.

You should remember that a will contest commonly 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 West Covina, California?

Of course, a West Covina, California court will not invalidate a will without a very good reason, but there are some instances which render a will clearly invalid.

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.

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 West Covina, California, 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 West Covina, California 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 West Covina, California attorney, and the process will probably be much more manageable.

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

Life in West Covina

West Covina, California is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It has a population of about 106,000 people.

West Covina, California was incorporated in 1923, mainly to prevent the city of Covina from building a sewage treatment plant on the land West Covina now occupies. Modernly, West Covina, California is largely a bedroom community, with many of its residents commuting to Los Angeles and other larger nearby cities for their jobs. This is common practice among middle-class professionals, such as attorneys.

These professionals and attorneys are drawn to West Covina in part because of its large country club, known as South Hills.

If you live in West Covina, California and need legal help, there's almost certainly a West Covina attorney who can help. West Covina, California lawyers are skilled in a wide range of legal practice areas, and can probably advise you on whatever legal issue you're facing.

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