How Can I Contest a Will Based on Lack of Capacity?

At the reading of your loved one’s Last Will and Testament, you may view their expressed wishes as confusing, and overall the whole plan may not make sense to you. This may have you start thinking about whether or not your loved one held a proper mental capacity when signing off on their estate planning documents. If your concern for their lack of mental capacity grows greater and greater for you, then please follow along to find out how to contest a will based on these grounds and how a proficient Butler County will preparation attorney at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC can work to ensure your loved one’s estate is administered in the way they would have sincerely wanted.

How can I tell if my loved one has a lack of mental capacity?

As your loved one grows older, you must take it as your responsibility to monitor their physical, mental, and emotional capabilities closely. This is because, with a diminishing capacity of any sort, they may be quite vulnerable with their estate planning and in every other facet of their lives. So, you must watch out for them, for the sake of their safety and overall well-being. With that being said, below are signs that may indicate your loved one is experiencing a lack of mental capacity:

• Your loved one may express confusion or unfamiliarity with certain assets in their possession.
• Your loved one may struggle to recognize close family members who would otherwise be their intended beneficiaries.
• Your loved one may frequently and drastically change their expressed wishes due to confusion or misunderstandings.
• Your loved one may have difficulty keeping up with conversations, especially critical ones regarding their estate plan.

How can I contest my loved one’s will based on their lack of mental capacity?

If you believe your loved one exhibited a lack of mental capacity while they were still alive, and now their expressed wishes in their Last Will and Testament are confusing to you, you may formally file a petition with the Pennsylvania probate court. Within this petition, you may express your concerns regarding your loved one’s lack of “testamentary capacity.” This is a legal term regarding the mental ability needed to understand the act of drafting and establishing a will document. From here, you may present tangible evidence to the probate judge at your scheduled court hearing date.

An example of such evidence may include your loved one’s medical records pointing to their mental health concerns (i.e., an official dementia diagnosis, consultative notes from their therapy sessions, etc). This may be in addition to testimony from a medical expert, who may review your loved one’s medical history and confirm their struggling mental capacity. Further, you may have your fellow intended beneficiaries rally around you and offer witness testimony on your behalf. In their oral or written testimony, they may explain how, in their last interactions with your loved one, they observed your loved one’s confusion and poor decision-making capabilities.

We hope that this blog offers the insight you were searching for. For more information, we encourage you to contact one of the talented Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC today.