Question for legal eagles or someone who has experienced something like this.

[Guest TankerHC]

Will go hypothetically. Someone asked me this question today.

 

So say someone dies, young. Prior to dying they had a girlfriend. They have an estate, substantial. 2 months prior to passing away the girlfriend relationship was over. But the individual who died, left everything to the girlfriend, and failed to change his will. Now said girlfriend is beneficiary to this substantial inheritance. The deceased has a son, almost 20. . 

 

Assuming something like this happened in real life. Would (could) a judge favor the child in a lawsuit in TN (Generally)? Assuming this were the case, what would the sons best course of action be?

Edited September 29, 2013 by TankerHC

[Dustbuster]

Im not qualified to give anyone legal advice and you should always consult with a competent attorney,BUT,

in my opinion,the estate probably needs to be settled through probate court. The son can contest the will.The girlfriend may feel entitled to what is there and the will may show she is. Time to lawyer up w an atty that is experienced in probate issues.

hope this helps, a will is something so many people overlook......

[Guest nra37922]

I would bet that the Will would stand. 

[Hozzie]

I would bet that the Will would stand. 

 

I think it would stand too.  I'm not a lawyer either, but at this point it is all just hearsay and I suspect the Will would hold up in court.  Hard lessons to learn sometimes.

 

I think it is definitely worth a good look at the will though by an attorney just to make sure the i's were dotted and t's crossed all within the realm of the law.  Maybe they did something not up to snuff and it would null and void it, or at least partially void it.

Edited September 29, 2013 by Hozzie

[Trekbike]

I have two questions, any chance there was foul play with his girlfriend and his death? Second, why in the world would someone choose the girlfriend over his son in a Will?

[peejman]

Depends on who wrote the will. If done by a thoughtful attorney and properly notarized and such, it'd be pretty air tight. If done by a hack and not notarized, could easily be fought in court by the family.

[UncleJak]

**not and expert** but I have heard of many cases where the children take it to court and win.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[DaveTN]

Since the estate is substantial I would assume the son is already in contact with an attorney. My WAG would be that if the son can show the relationship with the girlfriend was over the court will rule in favor of the family (son).

[bersaguy]

Had a friend go through something almost similar but the girlfriend was a second wife of about 3 months and he had two children under age 21. It turned out that because neither son was even mentioned in the Will period they we able to contest it. When it got in court the Judge made the decision to divide the estate into 1/3 for each so they all got something. It was also a sizable estate. If the father would have mentioned both of them in the Will and left each of them 1 dollar they could not have contested it. It was because neither was even mentioned that they were able to contest it. My attorney told me about it while I was making my Will out too make sure I mentioned everyone I wanted so no one could contest my micro small estate....................... :popcorn: :popcorn:

[gregintenn]

If one can successfully contest a proper will, what good are they?

[Guest TankerHC]

Attorneys contest wills all the time. And win.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

[Dane]

I have had to go though probate in Ohio but not in tn. My experience is that it is possible to just hide the will and probate the estate without it. May be different in tn and depends on lots of factors. Always consult a real attorney as all of us internet attorneys suck.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD