Protecting Your Estate Plan from Challenges: No-Contest Clause Explained
Your will is meant to ensure that your final wishes are honored. However, it can sometimes be contested, potentially leading to lengthy legal battles and financial disputes among your heirs. Understanding when and why a will...more
Did your father give you a nominal bequest but gave his favorite daughter the bulk of the estate? Were you bequeathed the family dog and $10,000, but your mother’s boyfriend of six months was to receive the Lamborghini and...more
One of the many reasons for executing a Will and Trust is to make your wishes clear and prevent animosity among family members or other beneficiaries after your death. However, there are circumstances in which it is clear to...more
Unfortunately, not all families get along. If you are having problems with one of your children, you may not want them to benefit from your estate. There are several strategies for dealing with an estranged child in your...more
This newsletter is intended to keep readers informed about developments in probate and fiduciary litigation in Massachusetts and New York. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in...more
Drafting an estate plan allows a person to put into writing their wishes for division of assets upon death. Sometimes this means making a choice to give more to one child over the other, or to completely write out natural...more
People handle grief differently and sometimes how a person handles the death of a loved one can be both confusing and also extremely frustrating - fighting over little things like, who gets the table and the chairs, for...more
Recent decisions in California and Mississippi illustrate the divergence among states regarding enforcement of in terrorem clauses in wills and trusts...more
Emotions can run high at the death of a family member. If a family member is unhappy with the amount they received (or didn't receive) under a will, he or she may contest the will. Will contests can drag out for years,...more
No contest clauses are included in wills and trusts to discourage dissatisfied beneficiaries from challenging the document’s validity. Because enforcement of these clauses results in disinheritance, the California Probate...more
If you are a beneficiary in a will that contains a no-contest clause, and you don't like what the will directs, be careful before you question its validity. You just might lose everything....more
No-contest clauses (sometimes called in terrorem clauses) are extremely common in today’s litigious society. A no-contest clause essentially makes all gifts under the will or trust conditional upon not challenging the...more
One of the most dramatic areas of California trust and estate litigation is no contest clauses. No contest clauses bring a made-for-tv excitement to the practice of trust and estate law because of the risk of...more