Probate Fraud and Undue Influence Claims in Florida: How to Challenge a Suspect Will or Estate

Probate fraud and undue influence claims in Florida are legal challenges that ask a probate court to invalidate a will, a beneficiary designation, or another estate transfer because it was procured by deception or by improper pressure that overpowered the decedent’s free will. Fraud means the decedent was tricked into signing something or was lied to about its contents or effect. Undue influence means someone in a position of trust manipulated a vulnerable person into leaving them property they would not otherwise have received. Both are grounds to contest a will under Florida law, and both come up constantly in our Miami probate practice.

What follows is a working attorney’s explanation of how these claims actually function in Florida courts: what you have to prove, who is allowed to bring the claim, the deadlines that quietly kill good cases, and what happens to the estate if the challenge succeeds. We pay particular attention to a scenario that surprises a lot of families: what occurs when a will is thrown out and the estate becomes intestate, meaning it passes as if no valid will ever existed.

What counts as probate fraud under Florida law

Florida recognizes two flavors of fraud in the will-contest context, and the distinction matters because the proof is different.

• Fraud in the execution. The decedent signed a document without knowing it was a will, or signed a will believing its terms were materially different from what they actually were. Picture an elderly man told he is signing a power of attorney or a deed when the page is really a new will that disinherits his children.
• Fraud in the inducement. The decedent knew they were signing a will, but a beneficiary lied about a material fact to shape its terms—falsely claiming that a daughter had stolen money, that a son had died, or that a caregiver was a long-lost relative.

Section 732.5165 of the Florida Statutes states the rule plainly: a will is void if its execution was procured by fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence, and any part procured that way is void even if the rest of the will survives. So a court can strike a single tainted bequest while leaving the remainder of the document intact, or it can void the whole instrument when the wrongdoing infected the entire plan.

To prove fraud, you generally must show a false statement of material fact, made knowingly, intended to deceive the testator, that the testator actually relied on, and that the false statement caused a will provision the testator otherwise would not have made. Each of those elements gives the proponent of the will something to attack, which is why fraud claims often travel alongside an undue influence count that rests on circumstantial evidence rather than a single provable lie.

Undue influence: the claim that wins more Florida will contests

Undue influence is the more common and frequently the more winnable theory. It does not require proving a specific lie. It asks whether someone overcame the decedent’s free agency—whether the will reflects the decedent’s wishes or the influencer’s.

The Florida Supreme Court’s decision in In re Estate of Carpenter remains the framework Florida judges use. Under Carpenter, a presumption of undue influence arises when a contestant shows three things together:

1. The beneficiary occupied a confidential or fiduciary relationship with the decedent—an adult child handling the finances, a caregiver, a new spouse, an agent under a power of attorney, or anyone the decedent trusted and depended on.
2. That beneficiary was a substantial beneficiary under the will or transfer.
3. That beneficiary was active in procuring the will.

Carpenter also listed factors that show “active procurement”: the beneficiary was present when the will was signed or when the decedent expressed a desire to make a will, recommended or selected the attorney who drafted it, knew the contents before execution, gave instructions to the drafting lawyer, secured the witnesses, or kept the executed will in their own safekeeping. No single factor is decisive; courts weigh the whole picture.

When the presumption is established, the burden shifts. Section 733.107(2) of the Florida Statutes makes this explicit—once the contestant proves the elements giving rise to the presumption, the burden of proof shifts to the will’s proponent to come forward with a reasonable explanation for their role in the transaction. That burden shift is the practical engine of most successful undue influence cases in Florida. It is far easier to win when the person who benefited has to explain themselves than when the challenger must prove a negative.

Red flags Miami probate judges take seriously

Over years of estate litigation, certain patterns recur. Individually they prove little; stacked together they tell a story a court will believe.

• A new will or beneficiary change made late in life, during illness, hospitalization, or rapid cognitive decline.
• A sudden, dramatic departure from a long-standing estate plan that consistently favored family.
• The favored beneficiary isolating the decedent—screening calls, controlling visits, moving the decedent into their home.
• The beneficiary driving the decedent to a lawyer the family had never heard of, often one the beneficiary chose.
• Secrecy around the signing, and the original document ending up in the beneficiary’s possession.
• Lifetime transfers running parallel to the will—joint bank accounts, retitled real estate, “gifts” of cash—that strip assets before death.

Undue influence rarely happens in front of witnesses. These claims are built from medical records, bank statements, the drafting attorney’s file and testimony, the testimony of the witnesses and notary, and the accounts of family, neighbors, and home-health aides who watched the relationship change.

Who can bring a probate fraud or undue influence claim

Only an “interested person” has standing to contest a will in Florida. In a contest, that usually means someone who stands to gain if the challenge succeeds: an heir who would inherit under intestacy, a beneficiary of a prior valid will, or a beneficiary whose share would grow if a later will or a particular bequest falls.

This is where our firm’s focus on intestate estates becomes directly relevant. If you are a child or spouse who would have inherited under Florida’s intestacy laws but were written out by a will you believe was the product of manipulation, your standing flows from the intestacy statutes. You are an heir at law, and your potential intestate share is the legal interest that lets you walk into court. Understanding exactly what you would receive if the will were voided is the first step in evaluating whether a contest is worth pursuing.

Deadlines: the part that quietly destroys good cases

Florida’s probate timelines are short and unforgiving, and they are the single most common reason a meritorious claim never gets heard.

Under Section 733.212 of the Florida Statutes, once the personal representative serves a Notice of Administration, an interested person who wants to challenge the will’s validity—including on grounds of fraud or undue influence—must file an objection within three months after being served, or within 30 days after service of a later document, as the statute provides. Miss that window and the objection is generally barred forever. There is no routine, sympathetic extension for grief or for “we didn’t know.”

If you receive any document from an estate—a Notice of Administration, a petition, anything on probate letterhead naming a deceased loved one—treat it as a clock that has already started. Read it, note the service date, and get advice immediately. Waiting until the estate is closed and the assets distributed turns a strong case into a difficult, sometimes hopeless, recovery action.

What happens to the estate if the challenge succeeds

If a court voids the entire will for fraud or undue influence, the estate does not simply hand everything to the challenger. The court looks for the next valid instrument. If an earlier, untainted will exists, that earlier will may be admitted to probate and control distribution.

If there is no prior valid will, the estate passes by intestate succession under Chapter 732 of the Florida Statutes—exactly as if the decedent had never made a will at all. Florida’s intestacy scheme then dictates who inherits: a surviving spouse and descendants under Sections 732.102 and 732.103, and, absent those, more remote relatives in statutory order. For families who were cut out by a manipulated document, this is frequently the goal—restoring the default order of inheritance that Florida law presumes the decedent would have wanted. You can read more about how the no-will rules operate on our Florida probate overview, and about the documents themselves on our Florida wills page.

It is also worth knowing that Section 733.107(2) and related case law allow courts to address the influencer’s gains beyond the four corners of the will. Where the same misconduct produced lifetime transfers—joint accounts, deeds, beneficiary designations—those can sometimes be unwound in companion proceedings so that the influencer does not keep through the back door what the court took away from the will.

Building a Florida probate fraud or undue influence case

Strong contests are won on evidence gathered early. In practice that means moving quickly to:

• Obtain the decedent’s medical records covering capacity, diagnoses, and medications around the signing.
• Subpoena bank and brokerage records to trace lifetime transfers and account retitling.
• Secure the drafting attorney’s complete file and depose the lawyer, witnesses, and notary.
• Identify neighbors, aides, clergy, and physicians who can describe the decedent’s mental state and the influencer’s control.
• Map the prior estate plan to show how far the challenged document departs from it.

These cases reward diligence and punish delay. Because undue influence relies on a mosaic of circumstantial proof, the difference between winning and losing is usually how much of that mosaic was preserved before memories faded and records were lost.

Although our office serves Miami and South Florida, will-contest and estate-litigation principles overlap heavily across jurisdictions, and coordinated counsel matters when assets or heirs cross state lines. For a deeper treatment of these issues from a litigation perspective, Morgan Legal’s New York team writes extensively on and on the mechanics of a . For Florida-specific estate administration, see Morgan Legal’s .

If you suspect a loved one’s will was the product of fraud or undue influence, do not wait for the estate to close. The deadlines are short and the evidence is perishable. Contact our Miami probate attorneys for a confidential review of whether a contest makes sense in your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between probate fraud and undue influence in Florida?

Fraud means the decedent was deceived—either tricked about what they were signing (fraud in the execution) or lied to about a material fact that shaped the will’s terms (fraud in the inducement). Undue influence means someone in a position of trust applied improper pressure that overcame the decedent’s free will, so the document reflects the influencer’s wishes rather than the decedent’s. Fraud requires proving a specific false statement; undue influence is usually built from circumstantial evidence and a presumption that shifts the burden to the beneficiary.

How long do I have to contest a will for fraud or undue influence in Florida?

Under Section 733.212 of the Florida Statutes, an interested person who is served with a Notice of Administration generally must file an objection to the will’s validity within three months of service (or within 30 days of a later document, as the statute provides). Missing this deadline usually bars the claim permanently, so you should seek advice the moment you receive any document from the estate.

Who is allowed to file a probate fraud or undue influence claim?

Only an ‘interested person’ has standing—typically someone who would benefit if the challenge succeeds, such as an heir who would inherit under Florida’s intestacy laws or a beneficiary under a prior valid will. If you were written out by a will you believe was manipulated but would have inherited as an heir at law, your potential intestate share gives you standing to contest it.

What happens to the estate if a Florida will is voided for undue influence?

The court looks for the next valid instrument. If an earlier, untainted will exists, it may control. If there is no prior valid will, the estate passes by intestate succession under Chapter 732 of the Florida Statutes—as if no will ever existed—so a surviving spouse and descendants inherit in the statutory order. Courts can also unwind related lifetime transfers caused by the same misconduct in companion proceedings.

How is undue influence proven if there were no witnesses to the manipulation?

Florida uses the framework from In re Estate of Carpenter. A presumption of undue influence arises when the beneficiary had a confidential relationship with the decedent, was a substantial beneficiary, and was active in procuring the will. Once that presumption is established, Section 733.107(2) shifts the burden to the beneficiary to explain their conduct. Cases are built from medical records, bank records, the drafting attorney’s file, and testimony from witnesses, aides, and family—not from a single eyewitness to the pressure itself.