The legal issue of wills disputes arises when a loved one passes away and the assets, they used to possess in life need to be redistributed or sold. When the person who died has established a secure last will and testament (inheritance document), it should be clear as to who gets what, with careful instructions on how the retribution takes place and what criteria must be met, if any.

For example, a grandfather might promise their grandson their vintage car in their inheritance document but include a condition that the grandson must achieve certain grades in school. These documents are written so as to leave little to no room for interpretation, as any wiggle room is often taken advantage of by other relatives and friends who want to scavenge what they can, sometimes while the body is still warm.

When there are issues with the clarity of the document or it can be proven that the deceased was being manipulated into writing it the way they did, it becomes an issue of wills disputes. The following will examine the common causes of wills disputes.

Executor is slow and incompetent

The executor is the individual that the document states is responsible for overseeing the execution of their final wishes as well as managing the process of probate. The executor needs to acquire a grant of probate within a reasonable amount of timing following the death of the deceased (12 months is the expectation).

If the executor fails to acquire probate within a reasonable time frame then it is grounds for wills disputes to take place. The heirs must go to the Supreme Court and seek a deadline forcing the executor to get on with their job.

Heir don’t agree on the contents of the document

Of course, a classic cause of wills disputes is when heirs can’t agree on whether to sell the household property of the deceased. A good way for this to be solved is the party that wants to keep the house in the family buying the ownership stake from the one that wants to sell it.

If heirs plan to purchase the property from the executor, then they should seek on an independent evaluator so they can get a fair price on it. A similar process should be engaged if you want to sell the home.

Wills disputes can arise when decisions made about the future ownership of the family home fail to consider the sincere needs of one or more other beneficiaries or dependents. For example, if someone who lived in the home was not given anywhere else to live.

There are also arguments for people who would have had a reasonable expectation of getting something in the document due to statements by the deceased while they were alive. In these situations, the court may find that the deceased should have awarded something in their document.

Undue influence accusations

Another area where wills disputes come up a lot are when accusations are made that the deceased was not in the right state of mind or was manipulated at the time that they constructed the document. Naturally, this is very serious and hard to prove, so is only really done when one party is desperate or has good evidence.

An example of this might be when a sister manipulates their parent to remove a brother that they have a rivalry with from the document.