Will Annulment Action: Grounds and Time Limits

TMK art.557 lists four grounds for annulment: (i) the disposition was made when the testator lacked testamentary capacity; (ii) the disposition resulted from mistake, fraud, threat or duress; (iii) the content of the disposition, the conditions attached to it, or its modal clauses are unlawful or contrary to morality; (iv) the disposition was made without complying with the form prescribed by law.

Lack of testamentary capacity is the most commonly invoked ground. Whether the testator had full mental capacity on the date of the will is investigated through medical records, doctors' reports, witness testimony and, where necessary, a forensic medicine report.

Formal defects are particularly common with holographic wills. A will partly typed or composed on a computer, an incomplete or incorrect date, the absence of a signature or a disputed signature are all grounds for annulment.

In the case of an official will, the inability of the witnesses to act as such (TMK art.536) or the lack of authority of the official also constitutes a formal defect. In the case of an oral will, proof that the alleged extraordinary circumstance did not in fact exist renders the will invalid.

Under TMK art.559, the action for annulment lapses one year from the date on which the claimant learned of the disposition, of the ground for annulment and of his or her own entitlement; in any event, the action lapses ten years from the opening date of the will (or from the passing of the inheritance, for other dispositions) against good-faith defendants, and twenty years against bad-faith defendants.

The action may be brought by those entitled to the inheritance. The court of subject-matter jurisdiction is the Civil Court of First Instance; the court of territorial jurisdiction is the court of the testator's last domicile.

In inheritance disputes, the first step is to clarify the status of the heirs, the scope of the estate and any dispositions on death. Civil-registry records, certificates of inheritance, land-registry records, bank correspondence, the records of the opening of a will and any transfers made by the deceased during their lifetime should be reviewed together.

The time limits and types of action for matters such as reduction, testator collusion, renunciation of inheritance, annulment of a will and inheritance waiver differ from one another. Correctly identifying the date of knowledge, the opening of the estate, the opening of the will and the date of any renunciation declaration prevents the loss of rights.

Because intra-family transactions are often conducted without written documents, bank receipts, the values reflected in the deed, the testator's economic needs, witness accounts and patterns of actual use are particularly important. The earlier the evidence is prepared, the more soundly the legal framework of the dispute can be established.