One of my clients biggest fears is that some long lost cousin is going to come out of the woodwork and challenge their will, and take all their money.

Rest assured, it is difficult to challenge a will.

First, if you die without a will, the state’s intestate succession laws kick in. Those are default laws that will give all of your assets to some combination of your spouse, your kids, and your parents. Read more about what happens if you die without a will here.

But the point is, if you die without a will your stuff is going to your immediate relatives, i.e. kids, parents, etc and not cousins or long lost relatives.

If you have a will, then your will is enforced. your stuff will go to the people in your will.

Your will is “presumed” valid at law. When we say “presumed” that’s a legal term, it’s different than it’s common meaning… (even though it’s legal meaning is essentially the same as it’s common meaning.)

But this “presumption” that a properly executed will is valid and binding, means that the burden on proving a will is flawed, is on the person challenging it. This already poses a somewhat uphill battle because without any evidence to the contrary, the challenger will lose 10/10 times.

Now, the person challenging a will, be it a long lost cousin, or some random family member, CAN succeed on being entitled to something.

There are some legal challenges that carry weight. For example, if the person was caretaking for the decdent and wants to be repaid in certain circumstances. Or if the person is saying that the decedent actually intended their stuff to be left to the challenger and was coerced into giving their stuff to other family members, etc.

But for a challenger to be successful on that, they need evidence. The court just doesn’t take their word for it. In fact, the evidence needs to be compelling enough to overcome the presumption that the will was valid.

That being said, the risks of long lost cousins successfully challenging a will… is slim.

There is a simple way to avoid this though. As an added measure, some folks feel more comfortable just disinheriting disliked cousins outright. This ensures almost unequivocally that cousins will have no claim to your estate.

You just add a “disinheritance clause” where you specifically disinherit them.