By Paul Romano, Partner, Romano & Sumner, PLLC — Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Yes — in Texas, you can sometimes contest a will even if you don’t have the money to hire a lawyer up front, because the right will contest can be handled on a contingency fee: no money out of your pocket to start, and if we don’t win, you don’t pay. It doesn’t fit every case, but for the person who’s been cut out of an estate by someone who now controls all the money, it can be the difference between fighting back and walking away.
The short version:
It usually unfolds the same way, and we’ve seen it more times than we can count. While Mom was sick — mentally slipping, or just too weak and frightened to push back — one child, the “evil sister,” got her to change the will and name herself the sole beneficiary. Maybe she also got herself added to the bank accounts as a joint owner or payable-on-death, so the moment Mom died, she had the money in hand without even going through probate.
By the time the rest of the family realizes what happened, the evil sister is holding all of Mom’s money — and she has no problem peeling off $20,000 to hire a lawyer, because it isn’t really her money she’s spending. Meanwhile, the siblings who were wronged are told it’ll cost them $15,000 or $20,000 just to retain counsel, before anyone does a day of actual work. The person in the wrong has unlimited resources; the people in the right are tapped out. That imbalance is exactly what a contingency fee is built to fix.
A will contest is a lawsuit asking a probate court to throw out a will, in whole or in part, for a recognized legal reason — most commonly lack of testamentary capacity (the person wasn’t of sound mind), undue influence (someone pressured them), fraud or forgery, or improper signing. A “bad feeling” isn’t enough; you need real grounds and evidence. (We break those down in our companion post on the grounds for contesting a Texas will, and we explain the filing deadline in our post on how long you have to contest a will.) This post is about the question that stops most people before any of that: how to pay for it.
A contingency fee changes how you pay. Instead of paying a lawyer by the hour as the case goes, you pay nothing up front. The firm fronts the work and the risk. If we recover assets for you, we’re paid a percentage of that recovery, plus our out-of-pocket expenses. If we recover nothing, you owe no attorney’s fees.
Texas allows contingency-fee arrangements in will contests and other estate litigation — unlike, say, divorce or criminal cases, where they aren’t permitted. That’s what makes this option available to people who would otherwise be priced out of fighting at all.
Two reasons it’s good for you, not just for us:
A contingency arrangement makes the most sense when there’s significant money at stake — as a general rule, when your share of the estate is around $500,000 or more. That’s usually where the economics work for both sides.
But that’s a guideline, not a hard line. We’ve taken on smaller cases where the facts were strong, and the wrong was clear, and we’ve won them. So if your number is lower, don’t count yourself out — tell us what happened. We make that call case by case; the first consultation is free, and you’ll get a straight answer about whether yours is one we can take this way.
We’d rather you go in clear-eyed, so here’s the honest part:
None of this is meant to scare you off. It’s so you can make a real decision instead of a hopeful one.
Solving the money problem doesn’t stop the deadline. In Texas, you generally have two years from the date the will is admitted to probate to contest it (Texas Estates Code § 256.204), and you often won’t even be told the will was probated until that clock is already running. So the faster you reach out, the better — both for your odds and for whether we can take the case at all. (More on that in our post on how long you have to contest a will in Texas.)
We’re based in Sugar Land and handle will contests and estate disputes across Fort Bend County, Harris County, and the surrounding area — and on the right case, we’ll take it anywhere in Texas. On cases that qualify, we’ll work on a contingency fee so that cost isn’t the thing that keeps you from fighting back. If someone used Mom’s decline to rewrite her wishes and is now sitting on her money, that’s exactly the kind of case we’re built for.
Call Romano & Sumner at (281) 242-0995 for a free consultation, or send us a message through our contact page. Tell us what happened and what’s at stake, and we’ll tell you honestly whether we can take it on contingency and what to do next. And remember: the faster you act, the better your chances.
Often, yes. Many will contests can be handled on a contingency fee — no money up front, and no attorney’s fees if there’s no recovery. Whether your case qualifies depends on the facts and what’s at stake.
You pay nothing up front. If the firm recovers assets for you, it’s paid a percentage of the recovery plus out-of-pocket expenses. If there’s no recovery, you owe no attorney’s fees.
As a general guideline, contingency works best when your share of the estate is around $500,000 or more — but we take strong smaller cases too. Don’t assume you don’t qualify; ask.
As a general rule, no — if we don’t win, you don’t pay our attorney’s fees, and on most of our contingency cases, we absorb the out-of-pocket costs too. Some cases are set up differently, so the exact terms are always in your written fee agreement.
The most common are lack of mental capacity, undue influence, fraud, forgery, and improper signing. A sense that the will is unfair, by itself, is not a legal ground.
Generally, two years from the date the will is admitted to probate, with narrow exceptions. Because the deadline is often already running before you find out, don’t wait to ask.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice, and it is not a promise or guarantee of any particular result. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a case can be handled on a contingency fee is decided individually. For advice about your situation, speak with a qualified Texas attorney.