Contesting a Will or the Appointment of an Executor

My brother has filed for executorship of my mom’s estate, and my brothers and I have filed to contest. We will be going to ‘case management.’ What will happen there? There is a Will that my mom signed after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. We think my stepfather should be in charge of this process, because they were together for 27 years. Under Massachusetts law, will it be easy to contest the Will, since the rest of the family is against my brother’s appointment as executor? My stepfather has documentation of the Alzheimer’s diagnosis dated before the Will was written. Thank you for your input.
-- (Posted on the Forum by Lori)

(The following response was posted on the Forum Chat Room by Attorney Peter E. Bernardin.) I admire your willingness to attempt this on your own, but I have to warn you that a Will contest is a very difficult thing to do without any training. I have witnessed many good attorneys make procedural mistakes or miscalculations that were disastrous. I am a probate attorney with many years of experience but I still refer most of my will contests out to attorneys who specialize in that type of law. It is that specialized – and given what little I know about your situation I expect that a specialist is indicated here.

Your brother has asked that the court appoint him as executor of your mother’s estate, which means that he has filed a document purported to be your mother’s final Will with the Probate Court. You have filed an appearance, and thereafter you are obligated to file your specific written objections to your brother’s request. You don’t provide much detail, but typically a Will contest revolves around your mother’s capacity at the time she executed the Will, her susceptibility to undue influence, the validity of her signature, the existence of a more current Will, etc. In the alternative, you may actually believe that the Will is valid but object to you brother’s appointment because he is not a suitable executor. That approach is a little difficult because Massachusetts courts generally grant broad deference to the decedent’s wishes.

In any event, over the course of the dispute, the judge will schedule status conferences to ensure that the matter is progressing. So it sounds like you will be going to Court to meet with the judge and discuss the situation. It generally does not matter that most of the family is not comfortable with your brother’s appointment; You must meet your burden of establishing why the Will is not valid or by showing why your brother should not be appointed. You may need to gain access to and present medical evidence to the court (perform discovery, file motions, gather evidence, etc.) It is not an easy task, nor one that I would want to try without any training. I would strongly urge you to consult with a Massachusetts attorney who specializes in will contests as soon as possible.

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