Source: http://www.lasvegasprobatehelp.com/will-contests/
Timestamp: 2017-12-13 05:08:13
Document Index: 157329852

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 137', '§ 137', '§ 134', '§ 137', '§ 137', '§ 137']

Will Contests in Nevada | Las Vegas Probate Help
Can a will be contested? Yes, but with typically daunting difficulty as courts see wills as voices of testators no longer able to express their wishes and so tend to adhere to their testamentary terms fervently. Courts often treat will contests as unwelcome nuisances. Nevada law reinforces this tendency by enabling testators to draft “no-contest” [1] clauses that generally “must be enforced by the court[s].” [2]
Despite such obstacles, successful will contests, though rare, still may succeed. Some successful contestants are surviving spouses. Many persuasive arguments present lack of testamentary capacity or undue influence as issues. Successful contests can void wills partially or entirely. If an entire will becomes void, distribution of estate assets proceeds per the intestacy statutes. [3]
Nevada law presumes adults to have testamentary capacity. Contests on this issue usually allege senility, dementia, insanity, intoxication, or some lack of mental capacity to create a valid will. The contestant must show that the testator did not understand the consequences of the will’s contested terms.
Wills procured by undue influence are susceptible to contests. They usually involve manipulation of a vulnerable testator into bequeathing assets to the manipulator. Under undue influence, testators lack the free will to bargain or negotiate. To prove undue influence under Nevada law, “it must appear, either directly or by justifiable inference from the facts proved, that the influence destroyed the free agency of the testator.” [4] The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that “a presumption of undue influence arises when a fiduciary relationship exists and the fiduciary benefits from the questioned transaction.” [5]
Before probate, “The Attorney General or any interested person . . . may contest the will by filing written grounds of opposition to the probate thereof.” [6] After probate, “any interested person other than a party to a contest before probate or a person who had actual notice of the previous contest in time to have joined therein may . . . within three months . . . contest the admission or the validity of the will.” [7] “All the subscribing witnesses who are present in the county and who are of sound mind must be produced and examined, or the death, absence or incapacity of any of them must be satisfactorily shown to the court.” [8]
Contemplating a will contest? Prepare by consulting the estate planning professionals at Accolade Law. Call (702) 337-300 today to schedule an initial consultation at no charge.
[1] The term “means one or more provisions in a will that express a directive to reduce or eliminate the share allocated to a devisee or to reduce or eliminate the distributions to be made to a devisee if the devisee takes action to frustrate or defeat the testator’s intent as expressed in the will,” Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) Section (§) 137.005.5.
[2] NRS § 137.005.1. “A no-contest clause must be construed to carry out the testator’s intent. Except to the extent the will is vague or ambiguous, extrinsic evidence is not admissible to establish the testator’s intent concerning the no-contest clause,” NRS § 137.005.2.
[3] See NRS §§ 134.005 to 134.210.
[4] In re Estate of Bethurem, 313 P3d 237, 241 (NV 2013).
[5] In re Jane Tiffany Living Trust 2001, 124 Nev 74, 78, 177 P3d 1060, 1062 (2008).
[6] NRS § 137.010.1.
[7] NRS § 137.080.
[8] NRS § 137.040.