Family disputes often arise in the estate administration process. Especially if there is money at stake, a disgruntled family member or other interested person may be unhappy with his or her inheritance, or lack thereof. A personal representative of an estate or trust may be forced to deal with a challenge brought by one of them.
When the estate itself is illiquid, difficulties arise that when challenged often mean less is available for distribution when the dispute is ultimately resolved because of the simple fact that the asset cannot be divided but instead must be sold to be distributed. The sale and challenge are an additional cost that gets paid by the estate before an asset can be distributed. When an estate plan (a will or a trust) is challenged, the three most common reasons are listed below.
A challenge to the validity of the estate planning documents is often initiated by a disinherited family member or someone who believes, rightly or wrongly, that they are receiving less than what was gifted. A challenge to the administration of the estate or trust is really a complaint against how the personal representative is handling the administration of the estate. Usually in these scenarios, an interested party alleges that the personal representative is not doing his or her job, is using the estate or trust assets for the personal representative’s own benefit, or is acting against the beneficiaries’ best interests. The third scenario is a challenge to both the validity and the administration of the estate or trust.