Should You Have a No Contest Clause in Your Will?
A last will and testament is crucial in any estate plan. Your will allows you to dictate how your property is distributed to heirs upon your death. It could also be used by parents of minor children to name a guardian should a tragedy occur and the parent dies before the children are adults.
The decisions made in a person's will are the testator's decisions to make; however, family members are not always pleased when they learn what a friend or family member's will contains.
If a beneficiary doubts the authenticity of a will, they have a right to contest the will in court. A no-contest clause is a provision in a will that discourages beneficiaries from challenging the will in court.
No-Contest Clauses Are Used to Dissuade Heirs from Contesting the Will
There are many valid reasons for someone to contest a will. For example, if an elderly woman suffering from dementia suddenly changes her will to disinherit her children and instead leaves her estate to someone she barely knows, this is obviously very suspicious. The woman's family may challenge the will based on lack of testamentary capacity.
Unfortunately, not every will contest is brought in good faith. Sometimes, people can be greedy or jealous. They will believe that they should have received a larger inheritance than they were assigned in the will.
Will contests often result in long, stressful probate litigation as well as family conflict. Because of this, some people will decide to include a no-contest clause, which discourages heirs from challenging the will's validity.
How Does a No-Contest Clause Work?
No-contest clauses don't completely prevent will contests. The heirs still have the option to challenge the validity of the will. A no-contest clause provides that if a beneficiary contests the will and is unsuccessful, they will forfeit some or all of their inheritance.
For example, a man may leave $20,000 to each of his grandchildren with a clause explaining that should a grandchild contest the will, the grandchild lose the $20,000.
Illinois courts do regularly enforce no-contest clauses; however, no-contest clauses must be carefully worded, so the clause leaves no room for misinterpretation or ambiguity.
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