Will No Contest Clauses Explained

Whenever I have a hard time coming up with something to write about or talk about here I look to what’s happening with my clients.

I think about their fears. I think about their decisions. I think about what’s important to them.

And I also think about the questions they are asking.

I know, as an estate planning attorney, that if one person is asking a question it is very likely a lot of people are asking the same question in their minds.

That’s how we arrived at today’s topic: no contest clauses in wills.

It’s something I discuss with every client that is creating a will and it’s a topic I get questions on more often than not.

Questions include:

What is a no contest clause?

Do I need a no contest clause in my will?

Does a no contest clause allow someone to change my will?

Will people be mad if I include a no contest clause?

And on and on.

And, I might, these are all valid questions. In estate planning, there is no such thing as a bad question.

Today I wanted to answer that question for you. So please, take a look at the video, and enjoy!

Cheers,

Christopher Small

P.S. Do you have kids? Have you completed guardianship paperwork? Have you done it correctly? Click here to find out what happens if you don’t do anything: Are you okay with a judge choosing the guardians of your children?

P.P.S. Do you own a business? Do you have a plan so the business, and your family, can survive if something happens to you? If not, click here to learn how simple it is to protect your business and your family from tragedy: 5 Ways to Protect Your Business from Catastrophic Failure.

P.P.P.S. Do you have no kids and think you don’t need an estate plan? Single and think a will is only for married couples. You couldn’t be more wrong. Click here to learn more: 5 reasons estate planning is a must have even if you don’t have kids.

Christopher Small is a Kirkland estate planning attorney who helps people get rich and live forever. He is also the owner of CMS Law Firm LLC.

Estate Planning Email Newsletter Transcript

Hey everybody, hope you’re having a great day. This is a topic that I want to talk about because almost every one of my clients asked me about whether or not to insert a no contest clause or to know what a contest cause is. Why one would want to have it and so I thought this would be a perfect time to go over that and talk about it. So first things first. What is a no contest clause? A no contest clause that’s something that goes into your will but basically says if someone contests the will and need provisions of the will that they are cut out of the estate. So that means if you give a hundred bucks to Joe and Joe can test the validity of the will and he loses, then he loses out on the hundred bucks.

Okay, why would you want to have a clause like that in your will. Well, obviously it prevents people from trying to keep your assets in litigation for a long time. It prevents people from stirring up trouble and wasting their money and your money because if the wills contested then the legal fees really are paid out of your state and the will contest clause can prevent a lot of that stuff from happening. And an important note here is, the only thing that really can be contested when it comes to a will contest at all is the validity of the will. So did you sign it? Or you’re over eighteen? Are you of sound mind when you did it? Or were you under the influence? If the answer those questions are yes, yes, no, no then the will is going to be found valid anyway and everyone going to get their stuff. So I typically suggest that most people put the will contest clause in their will and so far as just to kind of prevent and keep people from doing things that they should do anyway. So that’s what a will contest is. Once again I’m Christopher Small I am the owner of CMS Law Firm. I am here to help you get rich and live forever. That’s it until next time.