By Kenneth “Kenny” Sumner Jr., Partner, Romano & Sumner, PLLC.
If you think a loved one’s will doesn’t reflect what they really wanted, you can challenge it in court. Maybe someone leaned on them. Maybe they weren’t of sound mind when they signed. Maybe the document itself just looks wrong. Romano & Sumner is a Sugar Land estate-litigation firm, and contesting and defending wills is squarely what we do in the Fort Bend County courts a few minutes from our office. Two things decide whether you have a case: a real legal ground, and acting within the deadline, which is generally two years from the day the will is admitted to probate. The earlier you find out where you stand, the more room you have to do something about it.
Worried the clock is running? Call a Sugar Land will contest lawyer from Romano & Sumner at (281) 242-0995 for a free consultation. We’ll give you a straight answer on whether you have a case and how much time is left before the deadline answers it for you.
It comes down to two questions, and a will contest lawyer in Sugar Land can usually tell you the answer in one conversation:
You don’t have to know which ground fits before you call. Figuring that out is our job. What matters right now is not letting the deadline slide, because it’s usually already running.
In Texas, you generally have two years from the date the will is admitted to probate to contest it (Tex. Est. Code § 256.204). There are narrow exceptions. For forgery or other fraud, the clock can run from when you discovered it, and there’s a separate rule for people who were legally incapacitated. But counting on an exception to rescue a late claim is a bad bet.
The part that catches families: the two years start when the will is admitted, which is often months before anyone formally tells you a thing has happened. People spend the first stretch grieving, the next stretch suspicious, and only then start asking questions. By that point a good piece of the clock is already spent. If a will is bothering you, the most useful thing you can do today is find out exactly how much time is left. Our Sugar Land will contest attorney will lay the deadline out in full, including the exceptions and what to do the day a notice shows up, in our guide on how long you have to contest a will in Texas. This page is about getting you to a lawyer who can act on it.
I practice probate and estate litigation out of our Sugar Land office, and I’ve spent years in front of the judges of Fort Bend County’s six County Courts at Law. Those are the same courts that hear will contests, worked into dockets already full of civil, family, and criminal cases. The judges carry a heavy, mixed load, and that tells you what they reward: a lawyer who walks in prepared and gets to the point. I’ve litigated will contests in those courtrooms, so I know how a capacity fight or an undue-influence claim actually lands in front of a Fort Bend judge, not just how it reads in a treatise.
Some of that read comes from a second seat I sit in. Texas courts appoint me in guardianship cases, as both a guardian ad litem and an attorney ad litem, to weigh whether a person has the capacity to make their own decisions and to sort out the family dynamics around them. That’s the same question that decides most will contests: did this person have the capacity to make their own decisions, and who had a hand in them? Sitting on both sides of it (advocate in a will contest, court-appointed assessor of capacity in a guardianship) sharpens how I read a case. And because Fort Bend County is one of the most diverse in the country, I work with the court’s certified interpreters so every client and witness can take part fully, whatever language they’re most comfortable speaking.
I’m one of three partners who handle these cases, and we’ve worked both sides of them: challenging wills that don’t add up, and defending wills against challenges that don’t hold up. That’s exactly why we can tell you early and honestly whether you have a real case or just a bad feeling, before you spend money finding out. When we take a will contest in Sugar Land, here’s what we do:
We also handle the disputes that tend to ride alongside a will contest: undue influence, executor and trustee misconduct, and beneficiary rights. If your situation crosses into those, you don’t have to go find another firm.
Romano & Sumner is a probate, guardianship, and estate-litigation firm based right here in Sugar Land. Estate disputes aren’t a sideline for us. They’re the core of what we do, and we handle them in the Fort Bend County courts and across the Houston area. When a family is in the worst stretch of its life, and someone is fighting over what a parent left behind, we’re the people who carry it for them. We can’t promise you a particular outcome (no honest lawyer can), but we can promise you a straight answer and a firm that knows these cases cold and these courts firsthand.
Estate-litigation matters at Romano & Sumner are handled by our partners: Paul Romano, Kenneth “Kenny” Sumner Jr., and Nicholas “Nick” Noe. Paul Romano is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
A few minutes now can protect the whole case. A short, free call with a Sugar Land will contest lawyer tells you where you stand and how much time is actually left. Call (281) 242-0995 or reach us through our contact page, and bring whatever paperwork you’ve received.
Often less out of pocket than people fear. Many will contests can be handled on a contingency fee, which means no attorney’s fees up front and fees only if there’s a recovery. For someone who’s been cut out of an estate, that arrangement is frequently what makes standing up to the person holding the money possible at all. We’ll go through whether your case fits it at the free consultation.
Usually yes, so call before you assume you’re out of time. The two-year period has narrow exceptions for fraud, forgery, and people who were legally incapacitated, and the start date often isn’t what people assume. It costs nothing for us to check the real dates against your situation, and that beats guessing wrong in either direction.
No. Our office is in Sugar Land, and we’re in the Fort Bend County courts constantly, but we represent families throughout Fort Bend County and the greater Houston area, including people who live out of state but are dealing with a Texas estate; where the probate case sits matters more than where you live.
You can file one, but these cases turn on evidence and procedure: medical records, witnesses, the drafting attorney’s file, all gathered and preserved early, under deadlines that don’t forgive mistakes. The person defending the will almost always has counsel, and going in unrepresented against a represented party is a steep climb. That’s why most people who succeed are represented.
Sugar Land is in Fort Bend County, which has no separate statutory probate court. Will contests are heard in the county courts at law that exercise probate jurisdiction, at the county courthouse in Richmond, a short drive from our Sugar Land office.
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. Every situation is different. For advice about your circumstances, speak with a qualified Texas attorney.