Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio

Re: children not acknowledged in will

Sounds fishy to me. Get a lawyer.

Re: children not acknowledged in will

Although leaving children out of a will is not generally grounds for a will contest it could be evidence that your father was under undue influence, did not have a testamentary capacity or fraud was involved. All of these would be grounds.

Contact an attorney as soon as possible. In Ohio you have a short time frame to fie a will contest action.

Re: children not acknowledged in will

As a general rule in Ohio, a competent adult may leave his or her assets and property to whomever they wish, even to the extent of disinheriting adult children. The fact that children are not mentioned in a Will is not, in and of itself, grounds to challenge a Will; however, it could indicate that your father could not remember his children which, if proven, would be evidence of lack of proper capacity to make a Will. The circumstances you describe (new Will with significant changes shortly before death) are often found in cases involving undue influence.

Once a Will is admitted to Probate Court, it has a presumption of validity, and you would then have the burden of proof to show that the Will is not valid because of improper execution, lack of capacity, fraud, or undue influence. This is not a complete list of reasons why a Will could be found invalid, but they are the most common reasons.

The time for filing a Will contest action is short, being usually three months from the time the Will is probated and a notice to this effect is filed by the fiduciary. Thus, you should obtain an attorney promptly and have a face to face meeting in order to review your specific situation. Good luck in resolving your case.

Re: children not acknowledged in will

Yes, the facts you present raise good reason to question the validity of the Will. You should take immediate action to object to the appointment of the daughter as executor (personal representative) of the Estate and get an injunction to stop the disposition of any assets.