Contesting a will
After someone dies, it sometimes occurs that some provisions of their last will and testament are contested. Most commonly, the contest is brought by someone who was given less by the deceased's will than the person expected to receive. A will contest, therefore, is always postmortem. It involves lawyers and a complex, adversarial legal process.
The grounds for the contest usually involve the deceased's capacity (see page "Competence to Sign a Will") at the time the will was signed. Since the deceased obviously can no longer be directly evaluated for capacity, both the claim of incapacity and the defense of the capacity involve gathering retrospective information about the deceased's behavior and ability at the time the will was signed. All sorts of evidence about this will be gathered by lawyers on both sides of the case.
Dr. Chafetz has expert experience in assessing the gathered evidence and issuing an opinion regarding the deceased's testamentary capacity.
The grounds for the contest usually involve the deceased's capacity (see page "Competence to Sign a Will") at the time the will was signed. Since the deceased obviously can no longer be directly evaluated for capacity, both the claim of incapacity and the defense of the capacity involve gathering retrospective information about the deceased's behavior and ability at the time the will was signed. All sorts of evidence about this will be gathered by lawyers on both sides of the case.
Dr. Chafetz has expert experience in assessing the gathered evidence and issuing an opinion regarding the deceased's testamentary capacity.