Who can legally contest a will?

A will can’t be contested by just anyone. Typically, only an “interested party” can challenge a will and only for valid reasons. There are three types of people who can challenge a will:

• Beneficiaries of a previous will
• Beneficiaries of a subsequent will
• Intestate heirs

Someone has standing to challenge a will if they are named in the will (or a previous will) or is not a named beneficiary but who would inherit or fail to inherit under the will if it’s deemed invalid. To make it more simple, you can only challenge the will if you were named or should have been or you can show you would have received something from the estate if the decedent had died intestate (without a will).

Heirs are those who would inherit if the decedent died without a will under the state’s intestate succession laws and generally includes spouses, children, parents, siblings, and grandparents. Heirs (or potential heirs under intestate law) may challenge a will when they believe they were left out of the will or received a disproportionate share. For example, if a will excluded an adopted child or only left assets to three of four children, the children left out of the will may have a valid reason to challenge the will.

When someone wants to disinherit someone or leave an heir out of the will, they will typically use a “no contest” clause. However, these clauses are usually not enforceable in most states.