Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Idaho

Challenge of will

My wife's Mother passed away last month. She is one of 3 direct heirs to an estate consisting of approximately 180 acres timberland. One half of the property was for the local sister(also administer of estate)and the other half was to be split between my wife and other sister. The portion allocated for my wife and other sister was sold to pay for medical expenses. The will states that any challenge would result in my wife only getting one dollar. The will was dated in 1997 when my wife's Mother was 83 years of age. Can the will be questioned?


Asked on 2/14/02, 11:00 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Charles Cruikshank Cruikshank Law Office-Since 1975

Re: Challenge of will

The administrator of an estate has a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries, and that duty has been called a duty of the highest nature as to fairness and honesty. Discriminating acts committed against heirs by the administrator in her own favor could be set aside by the court and the administrator removed and replaced with someone who would act fairly and impartially. It's not easy to generalize without seeing exactly what the transactions were and what the documents say. I offer initial interviews at no charge to determine if I can be of assistance to estate beneficiaries who feel that they have been discriminated against or cheated.

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Answered on 2/15/02, 2:46 pm
Andrew Hay Hay Law Firm

Re: Challenge of will

In answer to your question, it is possible that if the will is found to be valid and you challenge its validity then the provision allocating $1 to the challenger will apply. I do not know whether there is a way out of that provision off the top of my head.

However, the bigger question that was implicit in your statement was how your property could be used to pay bills and the other property was not used to pay bills. That suggests to me that the estate was not properly administered by the executor. That may present an entirely different question and may completely avoid the problem of the challenge clause in the will.

These are all "maybes" at this point. I need more specific before I can provide anything solid so if you want to email some more information to me, feel free to do so.

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Answered on 2/14/02, 12:10 pm


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