Proving a Will or Trust is Forged

One of the most common raised concerns clients have about their loved one’s testamentary document is, “I know my loved one’s signature, and that isn’t it.” Because of that, people believe the testamentary document to be falsified. While that sometimes occurs, it is rarely a winning argument. The reason is because unless a will is a holographic will, it must be witnessed by two people, and a trust is typically signed in front of an attorney and a notary.

This means, that in the vast majority of cases, you have to prove that two people lied about witnessing the decedent sign a document. That is an incredibly difficult feat on its own. But even if you can cast sufficient doubt that the witnesses didn’t witness the signing of the testamentary document, you then have to show that the signature of the decedent is not their own.

Again, this is an incredibly difficult and expensive feat. You have to bring in a handwriting expert to examine previous examples and compare it with the signature found on the testamentary document, and you then have to defend your own expert’s opinion from that of the opposing expert.

This can and has been done successfully in the past, but there is a very low winning percentage chance of winning a case in which the only accusation is that the signature on the will or trust is forged.