Wouldn’t it be nice to not have conniving family members who try to weasel their way into aging loved one’s favor to manipulate the will writing and their inheritance? If this sounds familiar, you may be posed with an incredible challenge when that older family member passes away and their will bequeaths their worldly goods to said conniving family members; people outside of the family also worm their way into these schemes. It’s a special brand of the term “gold digger.” If this sounds familiar, you need to contact a Denver family law attorney immediately to go over your options.
These people find an aging and affluent person, whether they’re related or not, and begin to coerce and manipulate them. Proving this can be a bit difficult, and you’ll need some form of evidence if you want to contest a will in Denver. Begin with the introspection of whether or not you may be acting selfishly and from a petty perspective. If not, review the inheritance and whether you think that someone shouldn’t have received much of anything, if an unknown party received a share, or if someone didn’t receive anything when they should have, contact our offices to speak with a Denver family law attorney.
There are four (4) avenues to pursue in order to contest a will in Colorado and prove it invalid.
Undue influence:
As we mentioned, this is when a person from either inside or outside of the family (a child, grandchild, nurse, etc.) manipulates the person writing a will to leave them a larger or unfair share of an inheritance. This is difficult to prove, but there are some ways, such as proving that the influencer isolated the writer of the will, or paid for the writing of the will itself. While these aren’t necessarily pieces of evidence that lead to a guilty change, they can aid in proving your case.
Mental incapacity:
In Colorado, the person writing a will must have their mental faculties about them and be of sound mind when signing a will. A common example used to prove mental incapacity to contest a will is to prove that the deceased suffered from dementia when they signed their will, meaning that they weren’t in full control of their mental state and rationality.
Fraud or forgery:
In some cases, people will try to submit a fraudulent or forged document as the will to receive a larger share of the inheritance and/or to cut out other family members. This requires expert analysis and is best if you contact a Denver family law attorney to assist you during this process.
Improper execution:
If the will was not properly signed, witnessed, or notarized, it is considered to be improperly executed and therefore null and void.
If you feel that there has been foul play surrounding the writing and signing of a loved one’s will, it is imperative you contact our offices to speak with a Denver family law attorney immediately so that we can begin the investigation and uncover whether the will is binding or not. Call us today for more information.