Are you sure that you have standing to contest undue influence or fraud in your West Palm Beach will contest?Feeling like you were wronged or harmed is not enough. Are you an interested party? As one tax payer learned in a case out of the Third District Court of Appeal, without standing in court you will not go very far. Some might say you do not even have a leg to stand on!
Standing to Sue
- Standing is a doctrine that applies in both State and Federal courts and essentially says that you have to be tied to a controversy to bring a lawsuit.
- In other words, merely being outraged by something is not enough to litigate it.
- What you need to show standing is dependent on what type of lawsuit you plan on bringing.
- If you want to instate a Palm Beach will contest you will have to show the Court you are an interested party.
- What is an interested party?
Interested Parties
- Does your uncle have an eye patch and play the accordion?
- That’s not the type of interesting we are talking about here.
- An interested party is someone who cares how a lawsuit ends.
- An interested party in a will contest has to stand to benefit somehow from the proceedings.
- This usually occurs in one of two ways either they would inherit under a prior will or through intestacy if all wills can be knocked out.
Kneapler v. City of Miami
- In a large consolidated case a taxpayer brought a lawsuit regarding violations of the City of Miami charter.
- In the end after several appeals the court eviscerated the entire case by claiming the party lacked standing.
- Palm Beach probate litigators know that sometimes an interested party just cannot establish their standing on paper and may be better off saving their time and money.
- That being said, proving you are an interested party can usually be done through proper planning and strategy by an experienced Palm Beach probate litigator.
Want to learn even more?
Check out the entire case by clicking here.