When a will is contested, the probate court pauses the estate, the executor stops distributing assets, and the case moves into a formal legal proceeding that typically runs months or years before anyone inherits anything. The challenge argues the document doesn’t reflect what the deceased actually wanted, and the court has to answer that question before the estate can move forward.
What that looks like in practice depends on who is challenging, on what grounds, and how far the dispute runs before it settles or reaches a judge.
The Estate Freezes Immediately
Once a contest is filed, the executor’s job shifts from distributing assets to preserving them. Bank accounts, real estate, investments, and personal property sit untouched. The executor still pays utility bills, files tax returns, maintains insurance, and keeps real property in reasonable condition, but discretionary distributions and major asset sales are off the table without specific court permission.
That freeze can create real hardship. A surviving spouse who was counting on estate assets for living expenses, or a property that needs significant repairs, may require a separate petition to the court. Many states allow a family allowance for a surviving spouse or dependent children during the contest, but someone has to ask for it.
Meanwhile, costs keep accumulating. Attorney fees, property taxes, insurance premiums, and maintenance expenses all draw down the estate every month the dispute continues.
Who Can Actually Contest
Not just anyone can challenge a will. You need standing, which means a direct financial stake in the outcome. Two groups qualify: people who would inherit under state law if there were no will at all (typically a surviving spouse, children, or other close relatives), and anyone named as a beneficiary in a prior version of the will.
A distant cousin who was never in line to inherit, or a close friend who disagrees with the deceased’s choices, has no standing. The court will dismiss the challenge regardless of how reasonable the complaint sounds emotionally. The question isn’t whether you were close to the person; it’s whether you’d gain or lose money depending on whether the will stands.
Grounds the Court Will Accept
Feeling shortchanged is not a legal ground. A contest has to rest on one of a limited set of claims:
- Lack of testamentary capacity. The person who signed the will didn’t understand what property they owned, who their natural heirs were, or what signing the will meant. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are often at the center of these claims.
- Undue influence. Someone in a position of trust pressured the deceased into changing the will to benefit that person. Courts look for a confidential relationship, the opportunity to apply pressure, and terms that depart from what the deceased’s earlier plans and relationships would predict.
- Fraud or forgery. The deceased was tricked into signing something they didn’t understand, or the document itself was fabricated.
- Improper execution. The will wasn’t signed and witnessed under the formal rules of the state, which generally require two witnesses who see the signing.
Undue influence and lack of capacity are by far the most litigated and the hardest to prove. The key witness, the person who made the will, can’t explain their reasoning. Everything has to be reconstructed from medical records, prior drafts, financial statements, and testimony from people who were around at the time.
The Filing Deadline Is Short and Unforgiving
Every state imposes a strict deadline for filing a will contest. Miss it and you lose the right to challenge the will entirely. Deadlines vary significantly: some states allow only a few weeks after you receive formal notice that the will has been submitted for probate; others give several months. The clock typically starts when the will is admitted to probate or when you’re formally notified of the proceeding.
This is where people make their most expensive mistake. By the time a family member realizes something looks wrong, they’ve often spent weeks on grief and logistics. If you suspect a problem, the only safe move is to talk to a probate attorney immediately. The deadline doesn’t bend for your circumstances.
Discovery, Experts, and Depositions
After the contest is filed and the other side has responded, the case enters discovery, the formal evidence-gathering stage. This is usually the longest and most expensive part of the process.
Both sides exchange written questions answered under oath, request documents, and take depositions. Medical files, financial statements, prior drafts of the will, and communications with the drafting attorney often form the backbone of a capacity or undue influence case. The drafting attorney, the witnesses who watched the signing, caregivers, and family members may all be deposed. In capacity disputes, the drafting attorney’s account of the deceased’s behavior and comprehension during the signing meeting can be decisive.
Capacity cases almost always require expert testimony. Forensic psychiatrists or neurologists perform a posthumous evaluation, reconstructing the deceased’s mental state from medical charts, prescription records, imaging, and witness accounts. When the dispute involves asset manipulation or complicated money flows, financial experts and forensic accountants come in as well.
Who Pays for All of This
The person contesting the will pays their own attorney fees. These typically run from tens of thousands of dollars on the low end to hundreds of thousands for complex estates. A single medical expert can cost $10,000 to $25,000, and forensic accounting in estates with business interests can run much higher.
The executor defending the will generally has their legal fees paid from the estate itself. Because the executor has a duty to defend the validity of the will, that defense is treated as an estate expense. Every dollar the estate spends on attorneys is a dollar that won’t go to beneficiaries, regardless of who wins. A contestant fighting for a larger inheritance is simultaneously shrinking the pot through litigation costs on both sides.
One limit worth noting: the executor can use estate funds only to defend challenges to the will itself. Disputes over non-probate assets like jointly held property or life insurance can’t be charged to the estate.
How Most Contests Actually End
Most will contests never reach a courtroom. Mounting fees, emotional exhaustion, and the uncertainty of litigation push the majority toward settlement.
Settlement
The parties negotiate a compromise, often splitting the difference between what the will provides and what the contestant believes they’re owed. The agreement has to be in writing, and most states require probate court approval before it becomes binding. Settlement is especially common when the estate is modest relative to the projected cost of a full trial. At some point, continuing to fight costs more than the amount in dispute.
Mediation
Many probate courts encourage or require mediation before trial. A neutral mediator works with both sides to find common ground. Mediation tends to work well when the dispute is really about hurt feelings and family dynamics, which describes a large share of will contests. When evidence points to criminal conduct or financial abuse, mediation is less appropriate and courts are more willing to let the case proceed to trial.
Trial
If no agreement is reached, a judge hears the case. The contestant bears the burden of proving the will is invalid on whichever grounds they alleged. The person defending the will has to show it was properly executed, but beyond that, it’s the challenger who must prove something went wrong. The standard in most jurisdictions is preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not.
What Happens If the Will Is Thrown Out
A court has several options when it finds problems. If only one provision is tainted, say a single bequest that resulted from undue influence, the judge can strike that provision while leaving the rest of the will intact. The invalidated portion then passes as if the will hadn’t addressed it.
If the entire will fails, the court looks for a prior valid will. Many people update their estate plans over the years, and if an earlier version was properly executed, the court can admit that version to probate instead.
When no valid will exists at all, the estate passes under the state’s intestacy laws. These statutes create a default distribution scheme based on family relationships. A surviving spouse typically receives the largest share. If there are children, they generally split the remainder. If there’s no spouse, children inherit everything. More distant relatives only inherit when no spouse or children survive. In the rare case where no relatives can be found, the state claims the assets.
Intestacy is blunt. It ignores unmarried partners, stepchildren, close friends, and charities, no matter how important they were to the deceased. That matters when deciding whether to contest a will that at least gives you something.
No-Contest Clauses and the Gamble They Create
Some wills include a no-contest clause, which says any beneficiary who challenges the will automatically forfeits their inheritance. If you’re named for $200,000 and you contest, you risk walking away with nothing.
Most states enforce these clauses, though courts generally interpret them narrowly. A common protection is a probable cause exception: if you had a reasonable basis for filing the challenge, you keep your inheritance even if you lose. The idea is to deter frivolous challenges without blocking legitimate ones. But the definition of probable cause varies, in some states the clause is enforced regardless of your reasons, and a few states refuse to enforce no-contest clauses at all. Anyone considering a challenge where such a clause exists is making a high-stakes bet and needs real confidence in the grounds before proceeding.
How Long All of This Takes
A straightforward contest that settles during discovery might wrap up in six to twelve months. A case that goes to trial commonly takes one to two years, and complex disputes involving large estates or multiple parties can run longer. Appeals add more time on top of that.
During the entire period, beneficiaries receive nothing. Family relationships often suffer permanent damage. And the estate steadily loses value to legal fees, expert costs, and ongoing administration. Those realities are why experienced probate attorneys counsel potential contestants to look hard at whether their grounds are strong enough to justify the cost, both financial and personal, before filing anything.