Contested Wills in Liberty, Missouri

Find the right Contested Wills attorney in Liberty, MO

It is permitted, in Liberty, Missouri, 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 the decedent was fairly well-off, their will might involve a great deal of money or property. This is one of the general reasons, besides a general sense of exclusion, that a family member might expend the great deal of time and money necessary to contest a will.

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 Liberty, Missouri?

Of course, a Liberty, Missouri court will not invalidate a will without a very good reason, but there are some cases which render a will clearly invalid.

For instance, if the will was obtained through duress (threat of some kind of harm), then it is invalid. Duress, however, is difficult to prove. If a named beneficiary was in some position of power or trust with the decedent, and is not someone who one would ordinarily expect to get a large gift in a will, that might raise substantial initial suspicion of something improper happening. Of course, those facts alone are not nearly enough to prove duress.

Because a testator must know what they are doing in order to write a valid will, the testator must be of sound mind at the time the will is made. Essentially, if a person is unaware of what they're doing, and the consequences of their actions, they can't make a legitimate will. This can be due to mental illness, or intoxication. Of course, if it's a result of intoxication, the testator can simply sober up and then make a perfectly valid will.

If the contest is successful, a court in Liberty, Missouri might find the will or part of it invalid. Of course, that leaves the question of how to distribute the property in the absence of a valid will. All states have laws that address this situation, typically passing the property to the decedent's closest living kin. All states have laws governing the order in which property is passed on in this manner. Normally, it goes to the spouse first. If there is no living spouse, it goes to the children. If there are no children, it goes to the decedent's parents, and so on. Most laws on this subject are written in such a way that almost everyone will have at least one relative entitled to inherit, even if that person is very distantly related to the decedent. In the very rare case where no living relatives exist, or none can be found, the decedent's assets usually go to the state.

Can a Liberty, Missouri Contested Will Attorney Help?

Contesting a will is never particularly easy or enjoyable. However, a reliable Liberty, Missouri attorney can help take some of the burden off of you, and handle some of the most difficult aspects of this process.

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

Life in Liberty

Liberty, Missouri is a city in Clay County, and is a suburb of Kansas City. It has a population of about 30,000 people.

Liberty, Missouri was first settled in 1822, and was made the county seat of Clay County shortly thereafter. In 1830, a lawyer named David Rice Atchison opened a practice in Liberty, where he took it upon himself to defend the religious freedoms of Mormon settlers, who were an unpopular and persecuted group at the time. During the Civil War, sympathies for the Confederacy were very prevalent in the area around Liberty, and this thwarted Missouri's plans to remain neutral in the conflict. Liberty, and other parts of Missouri, hosted several important battles of that war, so there are many historic landmarks in the area.

Modernly, Liberty is one of Kansas City's largest suburbs. Major corporations, such as Hallmark, have distribution centers in Liberty. It also hosts the headquarters of Ferrellgas, one of the nation's largest suppliers of Propane and Propane Accessories.

If you have a legal issue, chances are good that there's a lawyer in or around Liberty, Missouri who can handle it. Liberty, Missouri lawyers are competent and well-rounded, and should be able to help you.

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