Paul Romano recently reached a favorable settlement for his client in a will contest in Ft. Bend County, Texas, Cause No. 13-CPR-025281, County Court No. 2, In Re Estate of William L. Walker, Deceased.
Mr. Walker died on January 6, 2013, at his home after overdosing on Hydrocodone. Walker’s suicide occurred one day after he had executed a new will that devised his entire estate to 10 different charities and named the attorney who drafted the will as executor.
The type written will signed just before death was not the only will Mr. Walker had recently executed. In November of 2012, the Testator had written a handwritten will and codicil which left most of his estate to charity, and on October 8, 2013, he had signed a typed will (prepared by the same attorney who drafted the January 6, 2013 will) leaving his entire estate to his estranged biological son.
Subsequent to Mr. Walker’s suicide, the drafting attorney filed the January 6, 2013 will for probate in Ft. Bend County Court. This will was contested by the testator’s biological son as well as a neighbor and long-time friend of Mr. Walker. Both the neighbor and the testator’s biological son had been named as primary beneficiaries in several prior hand written wills dated between 2007 and 2009. Mr. Romano represented the neighbor in the will contest.
The parties settled on the eve of trial with Mr. Romano’s client, the neighbor, receiving a share of the estate which far exceeded the share received by any other beneficiary, including the biological son.
If you believe that you have been wrongfully excluded from a loved one’s will, the will contest attorneys at Romano & Sumner are ready to represent you. To speak to an attorney about contesting a will, contact our office today.
Romano & Sumner, PLLC