Under Kansas law, the will must be in writing and signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses who must also sign. If the testator is unable to sign, a party who is not one of the witnesses may sign the testator’s name. The witnesses should be disinterested parties, and they must be competent. Violations of these rules could be grounds for invalidating the will. However, Kansas also allows for oral wills and self-proving wills if certain conditions are met.

The law seeks to protect elderly testators who might be manipulated by self-serving individuals who have special access. When a person, such as a caregiver, arranges to have a will written or amended, and the will subsequently favors the caregiver, an argument can be made that undue influence was exercised to produce the will.

Undue influence can be a subtle exercise of emotional pressure on a vulnerable testator, but coercion is the heavy-handed use of threats, emotional blackmail and even physical abuse to compel a testator to change a will.

A testator must be at least 18 years of age and of sound mind. Elders with dementia or even momentary lapses of clarity do not have the capacity to execute or amend a will.

In this type of case, fraud is practiced upon the testator, who is deceived about the contents of the will or the effect the terms of the will are going to have.

This ground alleges the will is a fake, produced to deceive the court.

The trustee uses his position to steal from the trust funds.

The trustee uses trust assets for his own enjoyment.

The trustee loses money through risky investments. Because all investments have an element of risk, the plaintiffs have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a reasonably prudent trustee would not have made such an investment.

Investing trust funds in a company the trustee owns creates a conflict of interest, even when the investment would otherwise be sound.

Grantors who establish trusts place conditions on the release of assets to beneficiaries. The trustee has a duty as fiduciary to interpret those instructions accurately and adhere to them. If conditions are not met, the trustee cannot disperse assets. However, if the conditions are met, a beneficiary can challenge the trustee’s refusal to disperse.

The trustee is required by law to keep accurate records of the trust’s finances and may be required to provide an accounting when a reasonable request is made.

An interested party requests that the court interprets the meaning of language in a testamentary document

These are suits to decide the supervision of a person (called the ward) who does not have the capacity to make legal decisions. A ward may be a child who lacks capacity due to age or an adult who has lost capacity due to unconsciousness or dementia and has not done advanced planning or designated power of attorney.

A formal request that the court corrects the terms of documents establishing a trust to implement the grantor’s wishes more effectively

A suit to dissolve a trust because its purpose has been fulfilled or because its purpose has become impossible to fulfill

Before assets can be released to beneficiaries, the estate must settle affairs with debtors and creditors. This can involve collection actions against debtors and defense against creditors with specious claims.