Contesting Secret Transfer of Family House to Sister

[allizack]

My sister secretly had my 98 yr old mother who was living with her for 2 yrs after a hip fracture transfer her house to her. For over 20 yrs my mothers will stated the house would be left evenly to both of us. I found out about this in July 09, 1 month after mother died. The transfer took place in Oct 08. What is the Statute of Limitations on my filing an action against my sister?

 

[army judge]

People can change their wills at any time they wish for any reason.
Unless your mother was of unsound mind, or you can prove fraud, the will speaks for her.
Contact a local lawyer for specifics in contesting the will.

Some of the accepted objections include:

* Fraud: The person contesting the will may claim that the will that is going through probate is a complete fraud and must therefore be invalidated.

* Not up to date: The person contesting the will may claim that there is a more up to date one, and that the one being used is old and therefore invalid. The contester may even be able to produce a more up to date will. Whether the claim is backed by evidence or not, it must be investigated before the probate process can continue.

* Decedent was not of sound mind: The contester may claim that the decedent was not of sound mind when he wrote the will, and that it is therefore invalid. Again, this is something that would have to be looked in to before the probate could continue.

* Will written under influence from another: The person that contests the will may claim that the will was written under pressure and influence from another party, and is therefore invalid.

* Will was not properly witnessed: The contester may claim that the will was not legally or properly witnessed and that the witness signatures are fraudulent, therefore invalidating the will. The courts will have to look in to this, and may have to try and locate the witnesses, which could delay the proceedings even further.