Contested Wills in Florence, Kentucky

Find the right Contested Wills attorney in Florence, KY

In Florence, Kentucky there are particular procedures permitting certain people to challenge the validity of a will. This is recognized as a "will contest" or "contested will."

There are several 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 particularly 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.

However, this is a matter that should not be approached lightly - will contests can commonly foster strife and infighting within families who are already mourning the loss of a loved one. This can permanently damage or alter family relationships.

When Can a Will be Contested in Florence, Kentucky?

Courts in Florence, Kentucky will not let a person contest a will unless they have an excellent reason. There are, however, some allegations which will always invalidate a will, if they are proven.

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 reason why a will might be invalid is the maker of the will being mentally incompetent at the time the will was made. In order to make a valid will, the person making it must have enough of his or her mental faculties to understand what they're doing, and the consequences of it.

If a Florence, Kentucky will is successfully challenged and therefore invalidated, there has to be some system for orderly distribution of the decedent's property. Normally, if a will is held invalid, all of the property will be treated as if the decedent had never written or will. This means that it goes to the decedent's closest living relative, or, if there are not relatives who can be located, the state.

Can a Florence, Kentucky 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 brilliant lawyer in Florence, Kentucky 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 Florence

Florence, Kentucky is a city of approximately 30,000 located in Boone County, Kentucky. The area now known as Florence was originally called "Crossroads" because several roads from various parts of Kentucky converged there. It was originally founded in the early 1820s, and quickly grew, especially as the country began to expand westward, becoming a major hub for trade and commerce. Florence is well-known for a large water tower with a sign on it that simply reads "Florence Y'all." It has become something of a local landmark, and a source of pride among residents. The tower was built in the 1970s, and originally read "Florence Mall," to advertise a new mall that was being built. However, the mall took slightly longer to build than expected, and highway regulations prohibited advertisements for an establishment that didn't exist, so they had to change it in a very short time. The city simply painted over the vertical lines in the letter "M" to make a "Y" and added the apostrophe. The plan was to change it back when the mall was finished, but residents liked it enough that the city decided to keep it. If you live in the Florence, Kentucky area, and need a good attorney, you can probably find one. Florence, Kentucky lawyers are ready to handle whatever legal problem you might present them with.

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