Whenever an individual dies and they have a last will, it is submitted to the judge’s or surrogate’s court for the probate proceeding. The probate proceeding results determine if the will is valid or not. In case the will is valid, it is thereby considered to be admitted to the probate and therefore, the terms of the will must be followed. This means that the estate assets that are included in the will are shared according to the terms of the wills.

Not every time the will is considered to be admitted to probate. At times the will is not valid and therefore, the people affected by the will need to contest a will. However, before the will is said to be admitted by the probate, some individuals are asked to appear in court so that the facts and situations surrounding the will preparation and signing are investigated. In case these circumstances and facts are questionable then the will must be contented.

What is contesting a will?

Contesting a will means that heirs, family members, beneficiaries, and dissatisfied individual objects object to the validity of the will. This happens when the above are not content with the will or they feel that they were not favoured by the will. For you to contest a will, you must have a lawyer who can help you with the process of contesting a will. Contesting a will is usually a part of the family law which means that you need to look for a family lawyer who specialises in this field to help you handle the case in the most appropriate manner.

Reasons why you could end up contesting a will

There are certain reasons why you could contest a will. If you want to know the legal grounds on how to contest a will, read on:

• The will was improperly executed

One of the reasons why many people end up contesting a will is because the will was not properly executed depending on the laws of a certain location. For a will to be termed as properly executed, it should meet some requirements such as.

The testator must;

• Sign at the end of the will document
• Sign the will only while in the presence of two witnesses
• Declare to the witnesses that the document the individual is signing is the will
• The witnesses must also sign the will when the testator request them and in the testator’s presence

• Undue influence

 The other reasons why people could be contesting a will are because of undue influence. At times, the persons affected in the will may persuade the testator to change the will in their favour but at the expense of the other beneficiaries, family members, or heirs. In most cases, the person who exercises undue influence creates a strong relationship of reliance, trust, and confidence with the testator for them to feel obliged to their requests. In case of facts are showing undue influence to the testator the will is ways contested.

• Unclear will

When the testator leaves a will that is not clear, there are no instructions on how the properties should be administered. There should be contesting a will for the law to help the involved to come up with clear instructions for the properties administration.

• If the deceased did not have a sound mind

A will must be written, drafted, and signed when the testator is of sound mind. In case you feel that the deceased did the above when they were not of sound mind, then contesting a will be allowed. However, you have to show proof that the deceased did not have a sound mind.

When you require a lawyer, you will always look for reputable lawyers. This is to make sure that you get one who can never make any mistakes when hiring them. However, lawyers are also human beings, and it’s possible for them to make mistakes too.

Therefore, you should look for a lawyer who has made mistakes in the past and have learned from their mistakes. For this reason, they will be able to guide and offer you the help that you need when you hire them. However, as the client, you must know the lawyers’ mistakes to talk to them in advance and work with your lawyers to avoid those mistakes. Some of those mistakes include:

Delivering late

This is one of the more common mistakes among many lawyers. This is because lawyers have many clients they have to work for, and hence you will not be the only one. They have limited time to do all the work they have to do for all their clients.  However, every client will want the lawyers they will be working with to ensure they deliver in time. For this reason, you have to ensure that you sit with the lawyers and agree on the time that they should make their deliveries. Also, ensure that you have set smart deadlines.

Failing to update clients or updating them at the last minute

As mentioned earlier, lawyers have so many clients that they offer their services to. As a result, it is very hard for them to deliver their services equally and efficiently. For this reason, the lawyers will not be able to update all their clients while others will do it, but they will update them later than they should do it.  This is very wrong of the lawyers since it can make the clients lose on a case they were preparing for. 

Accepting a deadline without knowing deliverables

When you discuss the dates when the lawyers you have hired should deliver or even update you, the lawyers have a say here. It would be best if you did not make the decisions for them. Instead, the lawyers should think about the deliverables before they decide on whether the date suits them or not. However, you will find lawyers who will agree on a certain date without knowing the deliverables expected.

Failing to document the scope when deciding on the charges

When you agree on the amount of money the lawyers will be charging you for the services they are offering you, there are so many determiners involved. Therefore, the lawyers have to ensure that they have documented the scope and planned to give you the correct amount you should pay. Some of the lawyers are so greedy that they will forget to document scope when deciding on the costs to charge you.

Failing to communicate adequately and effectively

Adequate and effective communication is essential between the clients and the lawyers. Therefore, you have to ensure that you are looking for a lawyer who will be communicating with you when working on your case. When there is effective and adequate communication, it is easier for the lawyers to gather all the information required for the case at hand. You should not expect all the lawyers Gold Coast to communicate effectively and adequately since this is a mistake that some of them will make.

When most of the employees are in their workplace, they forget that they are in business just because everyone is friendly to them.  This is why most of them find themselves having terrible days, yet they have rights. Most employers want to be kind to you because they want to take advantage of you. They will ensure that they sweet talk you just because they want to exploit you for some time. You have to be very careful when you begin working for such employers. Others will also become very cruel to you for no reasons. Employees in Melbourne who know the advantage of having employment lawyers do no have some of these challenges. Their places of work are very fulfilling. As an employee, you have to be sure that you have an employment lawyer so that you can be very safe and happy in our place of work. The following are some of the reasons why an employment lawyer is essential in the life of every employee.

Employment lawyers ensure that your employer helps you succeed

Have you ever worked for employers who do not want you to be successful? All they want is to see you fail yet they are using you as their stepping stone to success. A good employer will want the employees that he or she has to succeed. However, they are those that are not for the success of their employees. When you have an employment lawyer, they will ensure that all your rights are upheld. Consequently, you will be protected by the employment laws as you work for your employer.

To ensure that you are treated fairly

Most of the employees are also mistreated when they are in their place of work. Just because they need a job to earn a living, they have nothing they can do for their employers. When you have an employment lawyer in Melbourne,  they will ensure that you are treated equally and fairly since you have a right to equal and fair treatment by your employer.

Employment lawyers ensure that you work in a toxic-free environment

One of the causes of deaths of most employees in Melbourne is working in an environment that is toxic. When you work in a very toxic environment, you will be exposed to very harmful conditions that may lead to hazardous diseases. You have to be sure that you have an employment lawyer so that your employer cannot expose you to the toxic working conditions.

To avoid sexual harassment and discrimination

Other employers will harass their employees sexually, while others will discriminate against them because of their sexuality. Having an employment lawyer will ensure that your employer respects your sexuality at all times. For this reason, you will never be abused or discriminated against in your place of work. In case you have also been abused sexually in the past when you hire an employment lawyer in Melbourne, your employment lawyer will help you file a lawsuit, and also win it so that you can be compensated.

To avoid illegal job terminations

Employers tend to think that they can terminate their employees at any time they feel like. This is against the rights of an employee.  Employment lawyers will help you in ensuring that the termination documents are reviewed and also ensure that you are not terminated illegally. When you also have an employment lawyer, no employer will terminate you because of reasons like your race, religion or even any medical condition.