Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Nevada
will contest - undue influence - fraud + legal malpractice
mother died in 2006. she has made many wills and i am only daughter. in her last will she gives most of estate to a brother who also is power of attorney since she had a stroke in 2004. i contest the will based on undue influence and fraud of her brother. i come to this basis b/c brother gets most of estate and also b/c he took her to live with him in another state, used her money to puchase a million dollar home and then quit claim her portion to himself using poa. mother needs aides to help her dress and eat. he handles all her financial affairs. one aide testified in depo that mother wanted to go to change her will but was afraid brother would find out. he is not physically abusive but has great deal of control over her livelihood. since this time there has been discovery, depositions, and many motions to the court. i have spent over 200k already to attorney. and, case really has not gone anywhere. trial keeps getting pushed back, and now it is finally set for mediation, but atty withdrew b/c i was late paying 10k of last bill-any advice as to the will contest and what i can do in the mediation to bring up the most significant points...do i have a shot on my own?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: will contest - undue influence - fraud + legal malpractice
If your question is: Can you go through a mediation w/o an attorney, my answer is:
Mediation is a non-binding process. So, in a simple sense, if the mediation fails to settle the case, you have not lost the case and you are no worse off than you were before the mediation, except that you may have agreed to pay part of the mediation fees.
The mediator's job is to be "user friendly." The mediator will try to accommodate your lack of legal knowledge. An attorney does two things for you in mediation. First the attorney helps you make your arguments. Depending on how articulate and knowledgeable you are this service is more or less valuable. Second, the attorney advises you on your chances of various outcomes if the case is not settled, although many attorneys are deliberately vague. The mediator will do this job, although the mediator may deliberately privately meet with each side and try to talk down their expectations by bad-mouthing each side's chance of success at trial.
If the mediation fails, then both sides may be locked into an expensive trial. So, it might be cheaper in the long run to hire an attorney to help you in the mediation.
In conclusion, it is always better to have counsel but mediation is one of the least dangerous areas to represent yourself.
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