Contested Wills in Sandy, Utah

Find the right Contested Wills attorney in Sandy, UT

Occasionally, family members of a recently-deceased person in Sandy, Utah will attempt to claim that a will is invalid, normally because it leaves them out of it. This process is called a "Will contest."

Sometimes, testators leave out of their wills people who might normally expect to inherit a large portion of the testator's estate (spouses, for instance). This might lead them to assume, correctly or not, that the will was a mistake.

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 expensivee. It also has the possibility to damage family relationships and foster strife among people who are already mourning the loss of a loved one.

When Can a Will be Contested in Sandy, Utah?

Courts in Sandy, Utah 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.

For example, 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 considerable initial suspicion of something improper happening. Of course, those facts alone are not nearly enough to prove duress.

A will can also be rejected because the decedent was not mentally competent to draft it at the it was made. A court will look at the person's mental capacity at the time the will was made, so even if the testator is now perfectly sane, if he or she was incapacitated for whatever reason (by way of intoxication, for example) at the time the will was made, the will can still be invalidated.

If the contest is successful, a court in Sandy, Utah 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, normally 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. Usually, 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 Sandy, Utah Contested Will Attorney Help?

Contesting a will can be a confusing, emotional, expensive, and time-consuming process. There is really no way around this. However, a brilliant Sandy, Utah wills and estates attorney can minimize these problems, and make the process as painless as possible.

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

Life in Sandy

Sandy, Utah is a city in Salt Lake County. It has a population of about 96,000 people, making it the fifth-largest city in Utah. It is generally considered a suburb of Salt Lake City, but definitely has its own character. Sandy, Utah saw its first major economic boom in the mid 1800s, when it became a center for mining. Its economy remained stable for a very long time, until the 1960s, when rapid growth again took place, giving it its current character.

Sandy, Utah has developed a thriving commercial center that runs along a few of its main streets, and has many locally-owned businesses, such as retailers and restaurants. Sandy is largely considered a bedroom community for Salt Lake City, and this is a somewhat accurate comparison.

Many residents of Sandy do work in the larger Salt Lake City, which is a major economic center for the region, and for them, Sandy could be viewed asa "bedroom community" - a city or town which is almost entirely residential, with the main purpose of its existence being a place to live for people who work in a larger nearby city.

If you live in Sandy, Utah and need an attorney, you won't have much trouble finding one. Sandy, Utah lawyers are able to handle just about any case that a resident of Sandy might face.

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