Invalidation of a will - review of judicial practice

Judicial practice regarding the invalidation of wills clearly describes life situations that will make it possible for many people to discover answers to their own problems.

The process of challenging wills in judicial practice is associated with three main problems , which relate to:

• parties to the process;
• grounds for recognizing the invalidity of a testamentary document;
• determining and applying the consequences of the invalidity of a will.

Grounds for recognizing the invalidity of a will

Any will is a transaction.
Thus, drawing up a will requires strict compliance with all mandatory conditions for concluding legal transactions. The possibility of invalidating a will is provided for by the legislation of the country after the death of the testator. This is due to the fact that during the life of the testator the terms of the will are not accepted for execution. The possibility of filing a claim to invalidate a will is provided for one or more persons whose rights are violated by this document. In some cases, for example, if a will infringes on the legal rights and interests of incapacitated citizens or minor children, the legal representatives and guardians of these categories of heirs may demand the cancellation of the will. The grounds for challenging a will can be general or special. The list of general grounds includes those grounds that determine the invalidity of a transaction in accordance with Civil Law. This category of grounds includes cases when:

• Legislation and regulations were violated.
• The testator is completely or partially incapacitated by a court decision.
• The testator is recognized as incapable of managing his own actions.
• The will was drawn up fraudulently, the testator was influenced in the form of threats or violence, and so on.

The list of special grounds is much wider. The most common special grounds are expressed in situations such as:

• Neglecting the requirement of a written will. If there is no written document containing the will of the deceased, then this is contrary to current legislation. No other forms of expressing the testator's orders regarding property can be considered valid.
• Incorrect drafting of a will. A will must be notarized. As an alternative, in certain cases it is possible to have the will certified by other authorized persons.
• Absence of the testator's signature (except in cases where the testator does not have the physical ability to sign).
• The presence of inappropriate witnesses when the will is written, signed, witnessed, or delivered. The presence of witnesses is, in principle, provided only at the time the will is made and only if there is a corresponding desire on the part of the testator. However, there are cases when witnesses must be present at the time of making the will. In this case, the witnesses who certified the will, interested persons and their close relatives, fully or partially incapacitated persons, illiterate persons or persons who do not speak a specific language are considered inappropriate. The absence of witnesses, whose presence is mandatory in accordance with the law, also applies to the list of special grounds.
• Placing a signature on the will by hands. This rule is relevant in cases where the executor is interested in certain provisions of the will. It is also impossible for certifying persons who are incompetent, illiterate or do not speak the language to sign. The executor cannot sign wills that are purported to be closed or made in emergency circumstances.
• Drawing up a will by another person or using technical means. This is prohibited in all cases where the will is closed or made in emergency circumstances.

An invalid will may be void or voidable. A void will is drawn up by an incapacitated person or in violation of the established form. In fact, an insignificant will initially has no legal force and is invalid without the obligatory receipt of an appropriate decision in the courts. At the same time, the fact that the document is null and void requires mandatory confirmation by the courts. A contestable will provides for the possibility of challenging it in court. A statement of claim can be filed by all persons whose rights are violated by this will - both those who disagree with the part of the inheritance allocated to them, and those who are completely deprived of the inheritance.

Vice of the subject

Fully capable citizens have the ability to draw up a will. Drawing up a will by a person who does not have full legal capacity entails the invalidity of the will.

Those who are incompetent do not understand the meaning of their actions. Minors are considered not mature enough to determine the posthumous fate of property, including that which they have the right to freely dispose of during their lifetime.

Citizens with limited legal capacity, spendthrifts and abusers of alcohol or narcotic and other intoxicating substances are deprived of the right to bequeath property in order to avoid infringement of the interests of their family.

Persons with limited legal capacity due to a mental disorder need outside help, and drawing up a will excludes “co-authorship”.

A defect in the subject composition entails the nullity of the will.

Despite the fact of notarization of the will, claims based on forgery are encountered in practice. When resolving a dispute, the courts are guided by the result of an examination of the authenticity of the testator’s signature.

• Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated August 28, 2014 in case No. 33-34352

I.A. filed a lawsuit against O.A. on the recognition of the will dated July 25, 2013, drawn up by A.I. in favor of O.A., certified by K.V., acting Moscow notary N.V., invalid, indicating that this will was not signed by the testator for the last 35 years of A.I.’s life. lived with the plaintiff, and with the defendant O.A. The last years of his life he did not maintain a relationship.

Satisfying the plaintiff’s demands and recognizing the will dated July 25, 2013, drawn up on behalf of A.I. favor of O.A., invalid, the court of first instance proceeded from the fact that this will of A.I. didn't sign.

The court's conclusion is based on conclusions No. 485/1-14 and 485/1-14 D of a forensic handwriting examination carried out on the basis of a court ruling in JSC "RiK", according to the conclusions of which, the inscription "***" and the signature on his behalf, located in the will 77 AB *** dated July 25, 2013, executed not by A.I., but by another person.

Procedure for invalidating wills

As mentioned above, depending on the type of grounds according to which a will is recognized as officially illegal, such a will may be voidable (invalid by a court decision) or void (invalid regardless of court decisions). It is important to remember that in all cases you need to file an appropriate statement of claim to invalidate the will in whole or in part to the court. The law determines the limitation period for disputes related to the recognition of invalidity in wills in accordance with article number 181 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This period is equal to one year from the moment the person is informed about the violation of his legal rights by wills. According to the first paragraph of Article No. 3 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, filing a claim to invalidate a will is available to those persons who are directly interested in the outcome of the case. The list of such persons includes citizens whose rights and interests are violated by the wills in question. The applicant can be not only an individual, but also the Russian Federation itself, which can claim escheated property.

If a will is declared invalid, the following list of actions is provided for by the interested party:

1. 1. The plaintiff must collect the required documents and written evidence of the invalidity of the will. The list of such evidence may include certificates and extracts from psychoneurological dispensaries and hospitals, as well as other medical institutions. Materials in the form of judicial acts and witness testimony will help you challenge a will. Information may be presented in writing, audio or video format. All arguments that confirm the nullity or possibility of challenging the will must be fair and completely reliable.
2. 2. After collecting the documents, the plaintiff will have to go to the court at the place where the inheritance case was opened with the appropriate statement of claim. The claim must specify mandatory information, including the full name of the judicial institution, the applicant’s passport details and his place of residence, information about third parties who are and are not making their own claims to the inheritance. The list of uninterested third parties also includes a notary. The applicant's demands must be detailed and reasoned. The statement of claim is drawn up in several copies, since each party, including the defendant, the court and the plaintiff himself, must receive a copy of the claim. Also attached to the statement of claim is a receipt confirming payment of the state fee, a copy of the will of the testator, documents confirming his death, and the evidence base from the first paragraph.

Additionally, provision is made for the involvement of persons interested in the decision. In some cases, special examinations may be required. Their initiator can be a plaintiff, a defendant or a court. After completing the above steps, the court makes a decision to recognize the will as invalid or legal.

Please note that special expertise may be required if it is necessary to obtain the expert opinion of relevant specialists. If the cause of the dispute is the mental incapacity of the testator at the time of drawing up the will, medical specialists may be involved in the examination. Initiatives of the parties to conduct an examination may be rejected by the judicial commission with a mandatory justification for the refusal. In cases where one of the parties requires a special examination, and the other is against the appointment, the court considers the petitions of both parties. If the plaintiff wins the case, provided that he insisted on conducting the examination, the cost of the examination is paid by the applicant.

Arbitrage practice

As judicial practice shows, challenging a will is not easy.
This requires compelling reasons and evidence, without which the court will refuse to satisfy the claims. If the plaintiff is confident in his arguments, then before the start of the court hearing he must prepare a serious evidence base and make sure that he is a proper plaintiff. Example: a citizen who is the aunt of the testator applied to the court to declare the will invalid. The owner bequeathed all his property in the form of an apartment, a summer house and a plot of land to his niece. At the same time, the heirs of the first priority did not challenge the decision he made and agreed with the terms of the will.

The court left the citizen's claims without consideration in accordance with Article 222 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. The aunt is an heir of the 3rd stage and, in the presence of recipients of property of the 1st and 2nd stages who did not challenge the will, cannot be recognized as a proper plaintiff.

Most cases of declaring a testator's order invalid are considered due to doubts about the testator's legal capacity.

As a rule, heirs who have their rights infringed try to challenge the legality of the will of the deceased, citing a long illness, the old age of the testator, or the use of potent drugs for medical reasons, but in the absence of proper evidence, the plaintiffs’ demands remain unsatisfied.

Time limits for consideration of cases on recognition of the invalidity of a will

The time frame for consideration of the case on recognizing the invalidity of a testamentary document and the direct recognition of the will as legal or illegal are determined taking into account the type of claim and the grounds for making the corresponding decision. For example, claims with demands to declare a will null and void can be considered within 10 years from the date of the death of the testator. In turn, claims related to invalid documents due to the possibility of challenging them are considered by the court within one year. The starting point of this period is the moment the applicant receives information about the invalid nature of the will left by the testator. Please note that this moment is not equivalent to the moment of opening of the inheritance. As judicial practice shows, the plaintiff can receive this information much later.

APPEAL DECISION dated July 26, 2013 N 33-2627/2013

The judicial panel for civil cases of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court, consisting of: presiding O.B. Aganesova, judges I.P. Teplov, O.A. Fedoseeva, with secretary L.I.B., considered a civil case on appeal in open court L.N. to the decision of March 14, 2013, which satisfied the claim of L.N. to K.L., I. and L.I.V. the recognition of transactions as invalid was refused. The security for the claim, accepted by the judge of the Cherepovets City Court dated December 18, 2013 in the form of seizure of the apartment located at <address>, has been cancelled. Having heard the report of the judge of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court Teplov I.P., the explanations of K.L. and her representative K.I., the judicial panel found: L.N. On December 14, 2012, she filed a lawsuit against K.L. on declaring a transaction invalid, applying the consequences of invalidity of the transaction. In support of the requirements, she indicated that <DATE> her cousin B.G.A. died, she became aware of this fact in June 2012. After the death of B.G.A. an inheritance was opened, which consisted of an apartment located at: <address>. By the decision of the Cherepovets City Court dated October 23, 2012, family relations were established between L.N. and B.G.A., L.N. The deadline for accepting the inheritance after the deceased B. was restored, she was recognized as accepting the inheritance. After contacting the notary Ch. to obtain a certificate of the right to inheritance by law, she learned that the specified apartment had been sold to I., who registered his ownership of this property on 02.02.2012 on the basis of a certificate of the right to inheritance by law dated 12/22/2011, issued by the notary Ch., to the buyer L.I.V., and he, in turn, K.L., while the notary Ch. reported that the certificate of the right to inheritance by law after the death of B.G.A. did not issue it in the name of I.

Believed that the transaction for the purchase and sale of an apartment dated January 30, 2012 (between I. and L.I.V.) was made by a person who did not have the right to carry out this transaction based on law, the disputed apartment was removed from the inheritance against the will of the heir, then there was stolen, therefore the specified transaction does not comply with the requirements of the law and is void. She asked to invalidate the apartment purchase and sale agreement dated 02/08/2012, to apply the consequences of the invalidity of this transaction, recognizing the plaintiff’s right of ownership of the apartment by inheritance, to reclaim the apartment from K.L. and hand it over to L.N.; oblige K.L. stop using the disputed apartment. Subsequently, the plaintiff repeatedly clarified the claims, in the final version, on the basis of 166, 168, 1112, 302 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, she asked to apply the consequences of the invalidity of void transactions - the said apartment purchase and sale agreements dated 01/30/2012 and 02/08/2012, to terminate K's ownership .L. for this apartment; include the apartment in the inheritance opened after the death of B.G.A., recognize it as L.N. ownership of the apartment by inheritance after the death of B.G.A.; reclaim the apartment from K.L. and hand it over to L.N.; oblige K.L. stop using the disputed apartment. By a court ruling dated January 7, 2013, I., L.I.V. were brought to participate in the case as co-defendants, and notary Ch. as a third party. At the court hearing, the plaintiff’s representative L.N. by proxy K.T. supported the statement of claim, explained to the court that, having exercised due diligence, K.L. should have doubted the legality of the transaction, since before concluding a purchase and sale agreement with her, four registration actions are carried out one after another within 5 working days. She believed that the defendants were not bona fide purchasers of the apartment. At the court hearing, defendant K.L. and its representative K.I. the claim was not recognized, the court was explained that the transaction was being disputed with reference only to the fact of acquiring the apartment from a person who did not have the right to alienate it. However, K.L. is a bona fide purchaser, since she acquired the disputed apartment for consideration under a purchase and sale agreement from a person whose ownership of the disputed property was registered in the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Estate and Transactions with It. There was no evidence that, when concluding the transaction, she knew that they were purchasing an apartment from a person who did not have the right to alienate it. Plaintiff L.P. was not the owner of the apartment at the time of the transactions. With an application to the notary for acceptance of the inheritance after the death of B.G.A. She applied only in the summer of 2012 (4 years after the death of the testator), and therefore there is no reason to believe that the disputed property was in her ownership and came out of her possession against her will. The plaintiff’s argument that during the sale of the apartment the rights of the heir of the owner of the residential premises were infringed, in itself is not a sufficient basis for declaring the apartment purchase and sale agreements invalid. The invalidity of a compensated transaction for the alienation of real estate on the grounds that the property was alienated by a person who does not have the right to do so does not give the owner the right to reclaim this property from a bona fide purchaser. At the court hearing, defendant L.I.V. did not recognize the claim, he explained to the court that his friend O. offered him to purchase the said apartment for ... rubles, said that previously a woman who died lived in this apartment, and the apartment was inherited by her nephew, who rarely comes to Cherepovets and lives somewhere in Moscow, showed him a certificate of the right to inheritance under the law in the name of I. and a certificate of form N..., according to which I. is the owner of the apartment, and no one is registered in the apartment. When inspecting the apartment, it turned out that it required significant repairs, so we agreed to reduce the price to... rubles with payment in installments, since he did not have time to collect the entire necessary amount of money within the agreed time frame, he offered to buy this apartment to his friend K.L., having received it consent, borrowed the required amount, wrote an application to the registration authority to terminate the mortgage on the apartment, and on 02/08/2012 concluded with K.L. contract of sale of an apartment. At the conclusion of the transaction, the defendant did not know and could not know about the claim of third parties to the apartment, that he was acquiring property from a person who does not have the right to alienate it, therefore he is a bona fide purchaser, and asked to dismiss the claim. Defendant I. did not appear at the court hearing. The third party, notary Ch., asked to consider the case in her absence, submitted a written review in which she explained that the certificate of the right to inheritance according to the law belongs to the deceased B.G.A. She did not issue it in the name of I. The representative of the third party, the Office of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography for the Vologda Region, did not appear at the court hearing. The court made the above decision. In the appeal L.N. raises the question of the cancellation of the court decision, referring to the arguments given by her during the trial in this case. In the response submitted to the appeal, the Office of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography for the Vologda Region leaves consideration of the complaint to the discretion of the court. The Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Vologda Regional Court, having checked the legality and validity of the court decision within the limits of the arguments of the appeal, finds no grounds for canceling the court decision. In accordance with Art. 131 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the right of ownership and other real rights to real estate, restrictions on these rights, their emergence, transfer and termination are subject to state registration in the unified state register by the bodies carrying out state registration of rights to real estate and transactions with it. Based on Art. 167 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an invalid transaction does not entail legal consequences, except for those related to its invalidity, and is invalid from the moment of its completion. By virtue of the provisions of Art. 168 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a transaction that does not comply with the requirements of the law or other legal acts is void unless the law establishes that such a transaction is contestable or does not provide for other consequences of the violation. From the case materials it is clear that the owner of the apartment located at the address: <address>, on the basis of an agreement for the transfer of ownership of the apartment dated September 18, 2002, was B.G.A., deceased <DATE>. Based on the certificate of the right to inheritance according to the law dated December 22, 2011, issued by a notary of the notarial district of Cherepovets and Cherepovets district of Ch., the Office of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography for the Vologda Region registered I.’s ownership of the specified apartment on February 2, 2012, in on the same day, on the basis of the purchase and sale agreement dated January 30, 2012, concluded between I. and L.I.V., state registration of the transaction was carried out and the transfer of ownership to L.I.V. was carried out, state registration of the mortgage was carried out by force of law. The mortgage record was repaid on 02/06/2012, on the same day L.I.V. a certificate of state registration of the right to the specified apartment was issued. 02/08/2012 L.I.V. sold the said apartment to K.L. for... rubles, state registration of the purchase and sale agreement and transfer of ownership in the name of K.L. made on 03/05/2012, according to the terms of the agreement, settlement between the parties was made in full at the time of its signing. By the decision of the Cherepovets City Court dated October 23, 2012, family relations were established between L.N. and her cousin B.G.A., born <DATE>, died <DATE>; L.N. the deadline for accepting an inheritance after the deceased B.G.A. has been restored; L.N. recognized as accepting the inheritance. When applying on November 30, 2012 to a notary in the notarial district of Cherepovets and Cherepovets district of Ch. with an application to accept the inheritance, L.N. it became known that currently K.L. is the owner of the above apartment. L.N. went to court with the above requirements. During the trial in this case, notary Ch. informed the court that the certificate of the right to inheritance by law after the deceased B.G.A. was not issued in the name of I., and the certificate submitted by I. to the registration authority is counterfeit, since it is printed on a blank sheet of paper, while certificates are printed on uniform forms and have several degrees of protection; instead of the series <address> is indicated on the certificate series N…. According to Art. 302 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, if property was acquired for compensation from a person who did not have the right to alienate it, about which the acquirer did not know and could not know (a bona fide acquirer), then the owner has the right to claim this property from the acquirer in the event that the property is lost by the owner or a person to whom the property was transferred into possession by the owner, or stolen from one or the other, or left their possession in some other way against their will. The joint resolution of the Plenums of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated April 29, 2010 N 10/22 “On some issues arising in judicial practice when resolving disputes related to the protection of property rights and other property rights” explains the following. In accordance with Art. 223 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, real estate is recognized as belonging to a bona fide purchaser on the right of ownership from the moment of state registration of his rights in the Unified State Register, with the exception of those provided for in Art. 302 of the Code of cases when the owner has the right to claim such property from a bona fide purchaser, paragraph 13. The defendant has the right to object to the reclaiming of property from his possession by presenting evidence of his acquisition of property for compensation from a person who did not have the right to alienate it, which he did not know and should not have known about (a bona fide purchaser). For the purposes of applying clause 1. and art. 302 of the Code, the acquirer is not considered to have received the property for compensation if the alienator did not receive full payment or other consideration for the transfer of the disputed property by the time the acquirer learned or should have learned about the illegality of the alienation. At the same time, the consideration of the acquisition in itself does not indicate the good faith of the acquirer 37. The acquirer is recognized as good faith if he proves that when making the transaction he did not know and should not have known about the illegality of the alienation of property by the seller, in particular, he took all reasonable measures to clarify the authority seller for the alienation of property. The acquirer cannot be considered in good faith if, at the time of the transaction to acquire the property, the ownership in the Unified State Register was not registered with the alienator or if there was a note in the state register about a legal dispute regarding this property. At the same time, an entry in the state register about the alienator’s property rights is not indisputable evidence of the acquirer’s good faith. The defendant may be recognized as a bona fide purchaser of property provided that the transaction by which he acquired possession of the disputed property meets the criteria of a valid transaction in all respects, except that it was made by an unauthorized alienator. The owner has the right to refute the buyer’s objection about his good faith by proving that when making the transaction, the buyer should have doubted the seller’s right to alienate the property, clause 38. In the present case, defendants L.I.V., K.L. are bona fide purchasers of the disputed apartment, since they acquired it under paid contracts: L.I.V. I., whose property rights were registered in accordance with the procedure established by law, and K.L. from L.I.V., whose ownership was also registered in accordance with the procedure established by law. L.N. no evidence was presented indicating that the defendants knew or could have known that I. could not dispose of the apartment, since at the time of the transaction his ownership of the apartment was duly registered on the basis of a certificate of inheritance by law. The buyers also could not know about the possible claims of other heirs (the heir applied for registration of his rights to the disputed apartment after all the above transactions were completed). When, under a compensation agreement, property was acquired from a person who did not have the right to alienate it, the owner has the right to go to court in accordance with Article 302 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with a claim to recover property from the illegal possession of the person who acquired this property (vindication claim). If in such a situation the owner files a claim to declare the purchase and sale transaction invalid and to apply the consequences of its invalidity in the form of returning the property transferred to the buyer, and when resolving this dispute the court establishes that the buyer is a bona fide purchaser, in satisfying the claims in accordance with Art. 167 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation must be denied. The rights of a person who considers himself the owner of property are not subject to protection by satisfying a claim against a bona fide purchaser using the legal mechanism established by paragraph. 1 and 2 t. 167 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Such protection is possible only by satisfying a vindication claim, if for this there are those provided for in Art. 302 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, grounds that give the right to reclaim property from a bona fide purchaser (free acquisition of property by a bona fide purchaser, disposal of property from the owner’s possession against his will, etc.). A different interpretation of the provisions of Article 167 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation would mean that the owner has the opportunity to resort to such a method of protection as declaring all completed transactions for the alienation of his property invalid, i.e. demand the return of what was received in kind not only when it comes to one (first) transaction made in violation of the law, but also when the disputed property was acquired by a bona fide purchaser on the basis of subsequent (second, third, fourth, etc.) transactions. This would violate the guarantees established by the legislator for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of a bona fide purchaser arising from the Constitution of the Russian Federation. L.N. stated the requirements simultaneously and in accordance with Art. 167, 168 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, and in accordance with Art. Art. 301, 302 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (application for clarification of the claim dated March 14, 2013). From the circumstances of the case, it can be seen that the plaintiff was not in a contractual relationship with any of the defendants, the transactions for the alienation of the apartment were concluded by the defendants among themselves, without her participation. Consequently, despite the choice made by the plaintiff of the method of protecting the violated right (the provisions of Articles 167, 168 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation cannot apply to a bona fide purchaser unless this is directly stipulated by law), the protection of the rights of L.N. could be carried out according to the rules of Art. Art. 301 and 302 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Since the owner of the apartment K.L. is a bona fide purchaser, the court of first instance came to the rightful conclusion that there were no grounds for satisfying the claims to invalidate the purchase and sale agreements for the said residential premises. The arguments of the appeal that the disputed apartment left the plaintiff’s possession against his will as a result of theft cannot be taken into account for the following reasons. In accordance with the requirements of Part 1 of Article 56 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, each party must prove the circumstances to which it refers as the basis for its claims and objections, unless otherwise provided by federal law. The plaintiff did not present evidence to the court confirming the theft of the disputed apartment using a forged document (established by the relevant court verdict that entered into legal force). Under these circumstances, the court's decision is legal and justified; there are no grounds for satisfying the arguments of the appeal. Guided by Article 328 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the judicial panel

determined:

the decision of March 14, 2013 was left unchanged, the appeal of L.N. - without satisfaction.

Consequences of challenging a will

If a will was declared invalid in accordance with a court decision, this decision is not a basis for revoking the rights of heirs under another will. Also, in the case of invalid wills, there is no deprivation of the full inheritance or part thereof of the remaining persons entitled to the inherited property in accordance with current legislation. Heirs recognized as such by law have the right to receive their due share or full property in order of priority. If another will existed before this will was contested by a court decision, the first document is restored in its legal force.

If there are several wills, which one is valid?

During his lifetime, the applicant can leave up to 6-8 wills. His will may change, so he can legally draw up a new document. The statement that is written the latest is considered valid. But if several wills concern different types of property, then both of them will be valid.

Naturally, after drawing up a will, if the will changes, the applicant can cancel the previous one. There are no legal requirements to indicate the reason for your decision. To do this, the notary helps fill out a special document on the revocation or draws up a new will.

It is impossible to file a claim to challenge a previous statement, since the last will of the deceased has legal force.

Therefore, if a lawsuit is filed to challenge the validity of the will and when new circumstances are discovered (the presence of a more recent will), all legal actions are terminated.

A will can be legally contested. To do this, file a claim in court, provide evidence of the applicant’s incapacity or other evidence of the nullity of the document.

How to challenge a will in court, watch this video:

See also Phone numbers for consultation January 31, 2021 Victoria M. 1460

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Benefits of using experienced lawyers to challenge a will

As mentioned earlier, the procedure for recognizing the invalidity of a concluded will is carried out in accordance with a court decision. During the probate process, plaintiffs may face a number of significant challenges and obstacles. Thus, an incorrect drafting of a statement of claim can hinder a quick and positive court decision. Other reasons and irregularities may also affect legal proceedings. At the same time, the most difficult stages of consideration of a case regarding invalid or contested wills are the actual judicial part of the proceedings and work with witnesses. In response to attempts to challenge a will, the opposing party in the vast majority of cases brings witnesses to the case. These witnesses most often have an initially negative attitude towards the plaintiff. Thus, the support of a lawyer at this stage is especially important. It is an experienced lawyer who will help turn the testimony in favor of the applicant.

Most often, courts have to consider cases related to the invalidity of wills due to defects of will. If such a will is declared illegal, the court proceedings are engaged in establishing certain facts. In particular, the judge must find out whether the testator was fully competent at the time of drawing up the document. Based on the answer to this question, the will can be confirmed or refuted. Legal experience shows that the courts' opinions on wills at the stage of making a final decision in such cases vary greatly. For example, if the testator fails to provide medical documents issued on the day the will was executed and confirming the testator’s legal capacity, the notary cannot fully assess his legal capacity. Thus, this is the main problem in the future when executing the will of the testator.

Specialists of the Moscow Municipal Bar Association are ready to provide the necessary assistance in challenging a will to both plaintiffs and defendants. Depending on the circumstances, we will undertake to prove that the will is completely legal or that the will of the testator in the will does not correspond to his actual instructions. If you have received a will and do not agree with its contents, seek advice from our lawyers. Experts will carefully study the will and related materials to determine the prospects and likely consequences of litigation. Disputes regarding a will occur to our lawyers quite often, and our extensive experience allows us to challenge a will or defend its legality in accordance with the client’s intentions.

Judicial practice on issues of invalidity and execution of a will

This document represents a one-sided transaction and is therefore subject to challenge. Particularly often, disputes arise when old, sick people make a will before death. Relatives come to court to challenge their decision.

Examples of civil cases.

Through the court they are trying to challenge the applicant's incapacity. Therefore, the decisive question here is the conclusion of the examination, which shows whether the deceased had deviations in the awareness of his own actions.

Services for citizens and organizations

The plaintiff's refusal to conduct an examination

The daughter filed a lawsuit to invalidate the will drawn up by her mother. The requirements were justified by the fact that the woman was old and had numerous illnesses. In the last years of her life, her health deteriorated, so she could not fully understand her actions.

The plaintiff refused to conduct a forensic psychiatric examination of the deceased. Therefore, the judge in the reasoning part of the decision referred to the presumption of mental health of the person unless otherwise proven.

A medical record was examined, from which it appeared that the testator did not have dementia. Invited witnesses confirmed her adequate condition. As a result, by the decision of the Bereznikovsky City Court of the Perm Territory dated November 3, 2020 in case No. 2-2190/2020

the claim was denied.