Will contests are generally nasty affairs that often involve long-festering emotions between family members. There are four ways to contest a will; claim the person who made it was incapacitated, under duress, unduly influenced or didn't follow proper rules.
Famous battles of the past include wills left by tobacco and energy heiress Doris Duke, and J. Seward Johnson, heir of the Johnson & Johnson family, whose story is described as the largest, costliest, ugliest and most spectacular inheritance contest in American history. It was chronicled in the book Undue Influence: The Epic Battle for the Johnson & Johnson Fortune.
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