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Assess a will contest early

This page lists three turns, the messages you send to the AI one after another in the same chat, and then a check of the answer. Keep it open next to your chat. Each turn shows the next thing to paste, with the values you entered already filled in. Nothing is sent from this page, and your conversation stays in the AI tool you are using.

Terms, date, drafter, witnesses, the family, and how this instrument differs from what came before.

Whose probate code applies and which court will hear it; the contest window and the burden rules both come from here.

Earlier wills and what each gave your client, plus who would take in intestacy. This is where the delta comes from.

Diagnoses, medications, cognitive testing, and lay observations, each with a date relative to execution.

Paste the clause verbatim if the instrument has one. Its wording controls what triggers forfeiture.

Watch for these throughout

  • Contest and caveat periods are short, state-specific, and triggered by events that may already have occurred. Verify the deadline against the current statute the day you open the file. Do not accept any period the model supplies.
  • Who bears the burden on testamentary capacity, and whether a confidential relationship raises a presumption of undue influence, vary substantially by state and can decide the case.
  • No-contest clauses are unenforceable in some states, enforceable in others, and subject to a probable-cause exception in many. Confirm the rule before advising a client to file anything.
  • Medical records require proper authorization or a subpoena, and the drafting attorney's file may or may not be reachable through a testamentary exception to privilege. Getting either the wrong way creates a second problem.
  • The model will over-weight a dementia diagnosis. Capacity is measured at the moment of execution, and lucid-interval testimony from the drafting lawyer beats a chart note from three months earlier.