To Challenge or Not to Challenge a Will – Forfeiture Clause and the No Contest Clause.
Wills can be challenged due to lack of capacity (from dementia or alzheimer’s) or undue influence from manipulation. lies, and deceit. They can be brought when a senile family member is convinced to make changes to their estate plans from a “black widow spouse” or “Johnny come lately” husband or manipulative sibling. Often these loved ones are no longer themselves with physical impairments (can’t hear or see well) and have mental impairments affecting their decision making and their cognitive function limiting their ability to make good choices, or even choices at all. They are often isolated or taken advantage of by “loved ones.” Bottom line if you have a good faith basis to contest a Will or Trust, you have little to fear from a no contest clause or forfeiture clause. What do you have to lose if you already have had your inheritance stolen? You can’t lose much if you have had everything already stolen by these predators.
Catch me if you can? Will changes, Bank Account changes, or Life Insurance changes by opportunistic “loved ones”
You can fight back. We can help. Some people will boldly rationalize and effectively steal seniors life savings and estates. These fraudsters or scammers show no restraint. Sadly, they can be a spouse or caretakers or other loved ones. Their sense of entitlement can simply be amazing and they show no shame. This can happen with a Will, bank accounts, trust. life insurance, and other financial instruments.
Can you challenge a trust? Yes, Yes you can even if a lawyer drafted it !
Don’t be scared of a trust and its lawyers, it should not stop you from you challenging them if changes were made that should not have happened. A forfeiture clause can be meaningless if the changes to a trust were done when someone was senile or invalid or demented or confused or just not themselves. Just because a lawyer or estate lawyer did it doesn’t mean you can’t challenge it.
