Practice Areas
Baxter-Thompson Law, PLLC, focuses solely on matters related to estate and trust litigation. Our practice generally includes complex trust and estate litigation, heirship issues including common law marriage determinations, guardianship matters, and most issues that arise in the probate courts, including will contests and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits.
Will Contests
A will contest is a legal challenge to the validity of a will, typically initiated by an interested party such as a family member, heir, or beneficiary who believes they have been wrongfully excluded from the estate or disputes the terms of the will. The primary goal of a will contest is to have the will declared invalid, often leading to the distribution of the estate according to a previous will or under the laws of intestacy (if no valid will exists). Common grounds for contesting a will include:
- Lack of Testamentary Capacity: The person who made the will (the testator) did not have the mental ability to understand the nature of the will, the extent of their estate, or the identities of their beneficiaries at the time it was executed. This may be due to factors like age, mental illness, or cognitive impairment.
- Undue Influence: The testator was coerced or manipulated by someone—usually a close relative, caregiver, or friend—into creating or modifying the will in a way that does not reflect their true intentions. The person exerting undue influence may have pressured the testator to make specific bequests or change the terms of the will.
- Fraud: The will was created or modified based on fraudulent information or deceit, such as misrepresentation of facts or forgery of the testator’s signature.
- Improper Execution: The will was not properly executed according to legal requirements, such as the absence of witnesses, failure to sign the will in the presence of the witnesses, or other formalities mandated under Texas law.
- Revocation: The testator intentionally revoked the will, either by physically destroying it or by executing a new will that supersedes the previous one. In such cases, it may be argued that the will in question is no longer valid.
- Mistake: A claim that the testator made an error in drafting the will, either through a misunderstanding of facts or by failing to express their true wishes clearly.
At Baxter-Thompson Law, we offer our services based on an hourly rate or a contingent fee arrangement, depending on the circumstances. A contingency fee is not always appropriate. During your case evaluation, we will discuss the unique circumstances of your case and whether a contingency fee is a viable option.
