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Over the past few years, more and more of our practice has become devoted to estate litigation. These questions generally revolve around the validity of a decedent's Last Will and Testament, or gifts/transfers the decedent made prior to their death...

I'm sure we have all seen the TV dramas where a Will reading is portrayed in which ridiculously rich grandma shocks the family by leaving a child a token bequest ("my antique car" or "$50,000") and has a provision in the Will that...

Maybe it's the season, but I have gotten a lot of calls recently about will contests. A will contest usually happens when your heirs are surprised by what your will says, or by what you have left when you go to the great beyond. I have represented...

The heirs of Melvin Simon, the billionaire shopping mall magnate, are embroiled in a bitter estate struggle contesting a will signed by Mr. Simon seven months before his death. Simon's eldest daughter claims there was undue influence because Simon's...

An Objectant seeking to block a will's admission to probate learned the hard way that there is nothing easy about doing this. The Appellate Division, Third Department held in In Re Doody 912 N.Y.S.2d 792(A.D. 3 Dept. 2010) that upon the petitioner...

The Supreme Court of Georgia recently decided a case in which it found that a will was product of undue influence and fraud, and that the testator lacked testamentary capacity. In McDaniel v. McDaniel (S10A1497, March 7, 2011), the testator, Mr. McDaniel...

The interrorem clause --also known as the "no contest " clause --is not favored in many states. It is not enforceable everywhere. But in New York, it is an often- utilized poison pill used to discourage disgruntled relatives from challenging...

It is four years since the death of Anna Nicole Smith from an accidental prescription drug overdose. The smoke has cleared from the great "Who's Your Daddy ?" controversy which exploded across the nation's headlines soon after. And now...

Mary D. McElroy (decedent) died testate, survived by one child, Olivia McElroy (Olivia), who was under a disability. Following decedent's death, the proponent, an attorney, filed a probate petition. The proponent had represented members of the McElroy...

Jane was told by her physicians that she has a terminal disease, and that she has less than a year to live. She is a mentally competent thirty year old who has never been married and has no children. After a few weeks of contemplation, Jane sits down...

By Stephen Taylor The two most common legal theories used in will contests are lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence. While the basic principles of these two theories have long been established in Virginia, a recent decision handed...

You Will usually says "I leave my estate to my children" or maybe "to my grandchildren" or "to my children, and if a child isn't living, then to their children". You will notice that no names are being used. Guest blogger...

New York's Appellate Division recently affirmed a decision of Nassau County Surrogate John Riordan which disinherited the daughter of a decedent who had brought a petition to contest her father's will and for a construction of the residuary clause...