Can a Will Be Contested After You Die, and How to Prevent It?

Yes, a will can be contested after death. The success rate in the United States is under 10%. Anyone with legal standing can file a challenge in probate court. Still, they must prove one of four specific legal grounds: lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud or forgery, or improper execution. Most will contests are entirely preventable with the right planning steps taken before signing.

Yes, a Will Can Be Contested. Here Is What That Actually Means.

A will contest is not a family argument at the reading of the will. It is a formal legal challenge filed in probate court claiming the will itself is legally invalid. That distinction matters because the threshold is high, and courts do not treat dissatisfaction with a distribution as a legal ground for overturning a document.

When a will enters probate, the court presumes it is valid. The challenger bears the full burden of proof and must present evidence based on one of the legally recognized grounds for contest. Personal unhappiness, feeling the distribution was unfair, or believing the deceased was too generous to one sibling rather than another, are not legal grounds. 

Courts do not rewrite wills based on feelings. The practical reality is that most will contests resolve through settlement before they ever reach a courtroom, because the damage to a family and an estate does not require a final verdict to be devastating.

Read: Is It Possible To Have A Will And A Trust For The Same Estate?

Who Can Contest a Will?

Not everyone has the legal right to challenge a will. Courts require that a challenger have “standing,” meaning a direct legal interest in the estate’s outcome.

The people who qualify include the surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, and any other heirs who would inherit under state intestacy law if the will were thrown out. Someone named in a prior will who was removed from the current one has standing. A named beneficiary who received less than expected also has standing. Creditors and unrelated parties generally cannot file a will contest, regardless of their views on the distribution.

The Four Legal Grounds to Contest a Will

These are the only reasons a probate court will seriously entertain a will challenge:

1. Lack of testamentary capacity: The person did not, at the moment of signing, understand what a will is, what assets they owned, or who their natural heirs were. Capacity is assessed only at the time of signing, not before or after. A person with dementia who had a clear day when the will was executed had legal capacity on that day.

2. Undue influence: Someone in a position of power over the testator used that influence to pressure them into distributions that served the influencer’s interests rather than the testator’s own wishes. This is most common in elder abuse situations involving a caregiver, a new partner, or an estranged family member who gains access to a vulnerable person late in life.

3. Fraud or forgery: The signature on the will is not genuine, or the person who signed was deceived about the nature of the document. Both require clear and specific evidence to succeed in court.

4. Improper execution: The will was not signed according to the state’s legal requirements, such as having only one witness when two were required, or witnesses who were themselves named beneficiaries. This is the easiest ground to challenge and the easiest to prevent entirely.

How Common Are Will Contests and Do They Succeed?

Will contests are less common than most people assume. The vast majority of wills pass through probate without any challenge. When a challenge is filed, the success rate is estimated at under 10% in the United States. Roughly 90% to 97% of contested cases settle before trial because litigation costs frequently exceed what either side gains by continuing.

What the statistics do not capture is the real cost of a contest that settles. Legal fees come directly out of the estate. Distribution is delayed for months or years. Family relationships fracture in ways that rarely recover. The goal of prevention is not just to win if a contest is filed. It is to make filing a contest not worth doing in the first place.

Prevention Step 1: Execute the Will Correctly

Sign the will in front of two adult witnesses who are not named as beneficiaries. Both must watch you sign and then sign the document themselves in your presence. Do not sign in advance and ask witnesses to sign later. The presence requirement is strict in virtually every state.

Many states allow a self-proving affidavit to be attached to the will at the time of signing. This is a notarized statement from the witnesses confirming that the signing was witnessed correctly. A will with a self-proving affidavit can be admitted to probate in most states without requiring witnesses to appear in court, thereby significantly raising the procedural bar for anyone later trying to challenge the execution.

Prevention Step 2: Document Testamentary Capacity

For older adults or anyone with a health condition that could later be used to question mental clarity, documenting capacity at the time of signing is one of the strongest defenses available. Three practices work well together:

• A brief letter from a physician confirming mental competency on or close to the date of signing
• A video recording of the signing session where the testator explains in their own words who they are, what they own, who their family is, and why they made the choices in the document
• Notes from the attorney or notary present at signing documenting that the person appeared competent and was not under apparent pressure

None of these prevents a challenge from being filed. They raise the burden of proof to a level that makes contesting financially unviable for most challengers.

Read: How Do You Update Your Will After Major Life Changes?

Prevention Step 3: Include a No-Contest Clause

A no-contest clause, also called an in terrorem clause, states that any beneficiary who contests the will and loses automatically forfeits their gift. If a person is set to receive $50,000 and challenges it unsuccessfully, they receive nothing. The deterrent is strongest when the potential challenger is already receiving something meaningful under the current will and has real money to lose by filing.

No-contest clauses are not enforceable in every state. Missouri, Indiana, and Florida limit their application in various ways. In states where they are enforceable, they function primarily as a financial deterrent. Including one is worth doing in any state where it carries legal weight.

Prevention Step 4: Use a Living Trust Instead of or Alongside a Will

A revocable living trust is structurally more resistant to contest than a will for two reasons. First, it avoids probate entirely. A will contest is filed in probate court. If there is no probate because assets passed through a trust, there is no public forum for such a challenge. 

Second, trusts are not a public record. A will becomes public when it enters probate, and anyone can request a copy. A trust’s distribution terms remain private, reducing the visibility that sometimes prompts a disgruntled family member to act.

Trusts can still be challenged in civil court on similar grounds, so they are not contest-proof. But the legal process is more complex, more expensive, and less familiar than a standard probate will challenge. For families where contest risk is real, a living trust adds a structural layer of protection that a will alone does not provide.

Read: Can a Living Trust Be Contested?

Prevention Step 5: Communicate Your Intentions Before You Die

Many will contests have less to do with legal merit and more to do with surprise. A family that understands the reasoning behind an estate plan before a death is far less likely to fight over it after one.

A direct conversation explaining why one child received more, why a partner was included, or why a specific asset went to a specific person removes the shock that often triggers a legal challenge. Courts cannot be shown a dinner conversation. 

They can be shown a signed letter of explanation attached to the estate documents that clearly describes the testator’s reasoning. This letter has no legal force but provides context that can resolve disputes before they become lawsuits.

What Happens During a Will Contest

If a contest is filed, the process follows a specific sequence:

1. The challenger files in probate court within the state’s statute of limitations, which commonly ranges from 30 days to several months after the will is admitted to probate
2. Probate proceedings may be delayed or suspended, stalling all distributions to all beneficiaries
3. Both sides gather evidence: medical records, physician letters, witness testimony, attorney notes, prior will versions, and signing documentation.
4. The parties typically attempt a settlement before committing to a full trial.
5. If no settlement is reached, a judge rules on the validity
6. If the will is voided, the estate passes under the most recent prior valid will, or under state intestacy law if no valid prior will exists

The process can take months to years and draws on the estate’s legal fees, reducing what everyone ultimately receives, regardless of the verdict.

Where Beem Fits

GoodTrust, accessible to every Beem membership, creates attorney-approved, state-specific wills that meet the required execution requirements and include self-proving affidavit language, where the state allows it. For families who want the added structural protection of a living trust, GoodTrust creates revocable living trusts for all 50 states. 

The digital vault stores signed originals securely and ensures the executor can access every document when it matters. All of this is included in every Beem plan starting at $3.99 a month.

Conclusion

A will can be contested, but it rarely succeeds. The four legal grounds are narrow, the burden of proof is on the challenger, and most cases settle before trial. The real problem is not the verdict. It is the process. A will contest costs the estate money in legal fees, delays every beneficiary’s distribution, and fractures family relationships during the worst possible time. 

Correct execution, documented capacity, a no-contest clause, a living trust, and a conversation with family before death each reduce the likelihood that the process will start. Together, they make a challenge not worth the effort of filing. Create your personalized, attorney-approved wills, trusts, and healthcare directives in minutes using Beem. Download the app now!

FAQs: Can a Will Be Contested After You Die, and How to Prevent It?