In Re the Will of Belvin

The right to contest the validity of a writing offered for probate or probated in common form is by statute, G.S. 31-32, limited to “any person entitled under such will, or interested in the estate.”

Appellees maintain this language excludes all who would benefit by a prior testamentary disposition unless they were (1) heirs of the deceased, or (2) named as beneficiaries in the writing they seek to nullify. The court accepted appellees’ interpretation of the statute. This, we think, unduly restricts the phrase “interested in the estate.” If caveators can establish their allegations of undue…