Contesting a Will or Trust

Most Wills and Trusts contain an in terrorem or no contest provision which disinherits a beneficiary that challenges a Will or Trust. While the provision is designed to prevent against baseless challenges, Arizona invalidates such provisions if probable cause exists for the challenge.  The Arizona Court of Appeals in Wulf v. Barrow recently reconfirmed the invalidation of a no contest provision and further stated that a challenger only needed to show that one of the claims was supported by probable cause to invalidate the provision.  This is good news for individuals seeking to challenge the actions of a Personal Representative of an Estate or the Trustee of a Trust.