Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

You should contact an attorney immediately and file an objection to the Will. Even if the will is not false, it may be subject to other grounds for objection.

I am really sorry to hear about your situation.

First and foremost, you should contact an attorney, as there are two deadlines that you must satisfy in order to contest the will: (a) a deadline to file an "appearance" (this should be in a notice that comes to you from the Probate Court; and (b) a deadline to file what is known as an "affidavit of objections" in which you set forth the precise grounds for having the will declared invalid.

From reading your posting, there would appear to be three possible grounds upon which you could have the will set aside:

1. The absence of any "disinterested" witnesses. A will must be witnessed only by persons who have no interest in it. Your sister, brother-in-law and nephew are all persons with an interest in the will.

2. Lack of mental capacity. This assumes your mom was alive when she signed it. A will can be invalidated if it can be proven that the person making the will lacked the ability to understand what they were signing.

3. Undue influence. This occurs when someone understands what they are signing but have their freedom and decision-making ability overwhelmed by someone who benefits from the change in the will. A further discussion of undue influence can be found on my blog at www.lawfang.com.

Feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss this matter in greater detail.

First, please accept my condolences.

Retain an attorney immediately to determine whether you have grounds to object to the Will either as fraudulent or invalid due to lack of disinterested witnesses or the product of undue influence on the decendent. There are time limits for raising the latter objections but not for asserting fraud.Good Luck!