Andrew Flusche, Fredericksburg Lawyer

Today I ran across an interesting news article about an Australian will contest. An elderly lady died, leaving two wills that give $5 million each to three different couples. Now the deceased woman’s family is fighting to prove that the wills are fraudulent.

This real-life will contest highlights the importance of drafting and executing a solid Virginia will. You can certainly try to draft your own will or use a computer program to do it for you. However, your heirs and beneficiaries could end up in a lengthy will contest.

In the Australian case, the decedent’s heirs are claiming that she didn’t have capacity to execute the wills in question. That’s a hard standard to meet in Virginia. Capacity to execute a will only requires that you know the nature of your property, your natural heirs, and the disposition of property the will is making. This is a lower level of capacity than you need for almost anything else under the law. Proving incapacity is fairly difficult.

To help prevent a will contest, I can insert specific language in your will. A “no contest” clause could specify that anyone who contests the will automatically takes nothing under it. Of course, a clause like this is only effective if the will stands and is admitted to probate.

The moral of this story: consult an estate planning lawyer. I would love to talk to you about your needs.