Definition

• Probate litigation, also known as estate litigation, concerns actions brought in court against a deceased person's estate. Types of actions include claims and lawsuits.
  
  

Subject Matter Examples

• Probate litigation may arise from several different types of transactions or claims. For example, a person or entity owed money by a person who has died files a creditor's claim in probate court. A will contest is a lawsuit challenging the validity of all or part a will after the person who made the will has died.
  
  

Legal Issue Example

• The powers of an administrator or an executor may be at issue in probate litigation. An administrator is someone appointed by a probate court to handle the distribution of the property of someone who died without a will or with a will that failed to name an executor. An executor, also called a personal representative, is the person named in a will to manage the property of someone who has died.