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aprilmarie

Guest
YOUR STATE NAME - California
I am contesting my grandmothers holographic will. I do not believe that this was my grandmothers will, it is very messy and my grandmother had very neat writing . Also it is not dated. If it is her writing, I believe she must have been on medication, or was not capable of writing a will in the condition or else it would have been in her normal writing. I spoke with a lawyer and he said that I can contest it but if I pay him on contingency then he would be taking 40%. Is this a normal fee for contesting a will?
 


I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
aprilmarie said:
YOUR STATE NAME - California
I am contesting my grandmothers holographic will. I do not believe that this was my grandmothers will, it is very messy and my grandmother had very neat writing . Also it is not dated. If it is her writing, I believe she must have been on medication, or was not capable of writing a will in the condition or else it would have been in her normal writing. I spoke with a lawyer and he said that I can contest it but if I pay him on contingency then he would be taking 40%. Is this a normal fee for contesting a will?

My response:

It is HIS fee - - whether it's "normal" is a matter of interpretation.

But, attorney's fees in California are negotiable. If you feel the fee is too high, you are welcome to "shop around."

Nothing in the Code "requires" a holographic will to be dated. [See Ca Probate § 6111; and Estate of MacLeod (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 1235, 1244-1245, 254 Cal.Rptr. 156, 160] However, an undated holographic instrument may be denied probate under the following rules:

If the absence of a date of execution in a holographic will raises doubt as to whether its provisions or those of another will control, the undated holograph will be denied probate to the extent its provisions conflict with the other will . . . unless the time of execution of the holograph "is established to be after the date of execution of the other will." [Ca Probate § 6111(b)(1)]

IAAL
 
Last edited:

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Previously, did your grandmother make out any other wills?

What is the value of her estate?

How many beneficiaries are there?

First you must find out from this attorney if he thinks you have a strong basis or a weak basis of successfully contesting the will. Ask him if he has experience contesting other wills in the past and how successful was he?

Under normal circumstances, to contest a will, many attorneys would require an upfront retainer of a few thousand dollas paid in advance. If you can't afford to pay the upfront fee, then if he has experience in successfully contesting other wills, you would be smart to use him.

However, just to be on the safe side, you should interview with 2 or more probate attorneys to see what type of fee estimate they would give you, but don't let the original 40% attorney know you are doing that.

DANDY DON
 

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