Florida Probate Blog

Previous blog posts have discussed the fundamentals of will contests in Florida. These actions occur when a will is offered for probate (See Post dated October 28, 2008 What is the Definition of Probate) which is always after the testator has died. One of the most common grounds for a person seeking to invalidate a will offered for probate is that the will was executed at a time when the testator (the person signing the will) lacked testamentary capacity. The legal standard for testamentary capacity is that the testator knew the nature and extent of his or her property, the natural objects of his or her bounty (property) and the contents of his or her estate plan. See, In re Estate of Tolin, 622 So.2d 988, 990 (Fla. 1993). Since the person signing the will isn’t alive to testify or be examined in order to determine testamentary capacity, the court […]

Florida Will Contest:  Can a Will Be Challenged Based On Decedent’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse? Earlier I noted that many will contests center on an elderly Floridian suffering from the infirmities of age and the ingestion of prescription drugs to combat their mental deterioration caused by the progression of the many forms of dementia. Equally important are challenges to the testamentary capacity of a person making a will in Florida where that person is a drug addict and/or suffers from alcoholism.