Will Litigation Attorney in Alvin

Grounds for Contesting a Will in Texas

Texas law doesn’t allow someone to contest a will simply because they disagree with how the estate is divided. A court must find a recognized legal defect. The most common grounds in probate litigation are:

• Lack of Testamentary Capacity: The testator must have understood the nature and extent of their property, known who their natural heirs were, understood the nature of making a will, and been able to hold those elements in mind long enough to form a reasonable judgment about distribution. Cognitive decline, dementia, or acute illness at the time of execution can raise genuine questions about capacity.
• Undue Influence: This requires showing that a third party exerted pressure that overcame the testator’s free will, producing a will they wouldn’t otherwise have made. The challenger bears the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
• Fraud: Fraud in the execution occurs when the testator was misled about the nature of the document they signed. Fraudulent inducement occurs when false statements caused the testator to include or exclude specific provisions.
• Improper Execution: A typed will must bear the testator’s signature and the signatures of two credible witnesses who are at least 14 years old. A holographic will must be written entirely in the testator’s own handwriting. Failure to meet either requirement is grounds for invalidity.
• Forgery: A will that wasn’t actually signed by the testator can be challenged as a fabrication.
• Omitted Children: Under Texas Estates Code Section 255.053, a pretermitted child not provided for in the will may be entitled to an intestate share of the estate. This applies to children living when the will was signed but simply omitted, as well as children born or adopted afterward, when the omission appears unintentional.

Standing to Contest a Will & the Filing Deadline

Not everyone with an opinion about a will has the legal right to contest it. Texas requires that a contestant be an interested person: someone with a direct financial stake in the outcome. That includes heirs-at-law, beneficiaries under a prior will, named beneficiaries whose inheritance was reduced, and in limited circumstances, estate creditors.

Timing is critical. Under Texas Estates Code Section 256.204, interested parties generally have two years from the date a will is admitted to probate to file a contest. A challenge filed before the court admits the will sidesteps this clock entirely. When fraud or forgery is involved, the two-year deadline may run from the date the fraud or forgery was discovered rather than the date of admission, but that exception is narrow and fact-specific.

Some people hesitate to act because the will contains a no-contest clause. Under Texas Estates Code Section 254.005, such a clause can’t be enforced against a challenger who establishes that just cause existed and that the action was brought and maintained in good faith. A legitimate challenge on solid grounds doesn’t automatically trigger a penalty. That said, evidence degrades, witnesses’ memories fade, and assets can be distributed before a contested claim succeeds. Acting early can help protect your rights.