Adult children are often the primary beneficiaries of their parents’ estates. When a parent dies, their children have the right to inherit as heirs if they do not have a will.
Individuals who draft a will can choose their own beneficiaries, and children often receive the most valuable assets from a parent’s estate, including real property and financial resources. Occasionally, the will left behind by a parent includes surprising or downright disappointing terms. They might leave an inheritance for one of their children or a spouse, but not all of their children.
Can adult children left out of a will contest the document in probate court?
Was the disinheritance intentional or an accident?
Generally speaking, wills retain their legal authority even after many years have passed since their creation. However, those concerned about outdated documents may have grounds to contest a will in probate court. Children omitted from a will due to the date of its creation, for example, could assert that their parent did not intend to disinherit them.
If they can show that statements made by the decedent and the date of the document’s creation indicate a failure to update the document, the courts may consider setting aside an outdated will. However, if there are records indicating that a parent intended to disinherit one or more of their children, then their omission from the will might not provide grounds for a successful will contest.
Particularly in cases where a parent has always expressed an intention to divide their resources evenly among their children after their passing, a will that omits one or more of their children may not hold up under scrutiny in probate court. Pursuing a will contest can help frustrated adult children and other parties respond effectively to outdated documents. The probate courts can set aside invalid wills if a contest is successful.