✩ Griffin v. Wallace - Rules Regarding the Settlement of an Estate Dispute

Posted: April 11th, 2003 by Gaslowitz Frankel LLC

In this case, the children of a deceased father filed a caveat (objection) to a petition to probate the will of their late father filed by their step-mother, alleging lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence. The disputing parties attended a mediation at which several offers and counter-offers were exchanged but no final settlement agreement was reached. The children subsequently attempted to accept the last settlement offer made by their step-mother, but the Court of Appeals ruled 1 against them. The Court of Appeals explained that the only way a litigant can accept a settlement offer is when it is still open and on the table, and when a counter-offer is made, a prior settlement offer no longer is on the table.

1 260 Ga. App. 857, 581 S.E.2d 375 (2003)

Related News   Caveat, Civil Appeals, Firm News, Probate and Estate Disputes, Representative Cases, Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Will and Estate Disputes

✩ An Ounce of Prevention. . .The Will Execution Ceremony

Posted: April 1st, 2003 by Adam R. Gaslowitz

An Ounce of Prevention… was a regular column for Mortmain, the quarterly newsletter for members of the Estate Planning Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. Issue #1, Spring, 1999.

If you are concerned about the possibility of a will contest, I encourage you not to focus solely on drafting your documents to minimize the risk that, if brought, such contest will be successful and destroy the testator’s carefully crafted estate plan. While this goal is not to be ignored, an examination of the case law, in Georgia and around the country, as well as the related literature, should provide the planner with some comfort that the vast majority of such contests eventually fail. The real problem is that the damage (years of protracted litigation, delays in addressing estate administration concerns, delayed distribution of estate assets, legal fees and irreparable destruction of family relationships) is simply in the bringing of a will contest, regardless of which party is ultimately successful. Therefore, it is at least as important for lawyers to consider steps that can be taken to minimize the likelihood that a dispute arises in the first place.

There are countless steps that can be taken to minimize the likelihood of a will contest. Some simply involve encouraging better communication among the testator and his family members. Others make the potential caveator think twice before embarking down that road. The following suggestions focus on the actual execution of the will, and are just a few steps that will douse some of the fuel from the dispute fire: (more…)

Related News   Articles & Publications, Firm News, Probate and Estate Disputes, Will Disputes, Will and Estate Disputes